The company has dissolved its earlier joint venture with Air Arabia and signed a new collaboration pact with Himalaya Infrastructure Fund (HIF) Aviation Investment Company and Tibet Airlines on Tuesday.

Tibetan Airlines holds 49 percent and Yeti World Investment (an affiliate of Yeti Airlines Group) and HIF the rest of the stock in the company which has a paid-up capital of $ 25 million.

Himalaya Airlines plans to operate Kathmandu-Lhasa flights and set to become a second international carrier linking directly to the highest cities in the world after Air China.

Cheng Yiru, chairman of Tibet Airlines, said the maiden flight will be operated on the Kathmandu-Lhasa route on October 28. The start-up airlines plans to lease at least three A320 jets in the first year and increase the fleet to five aircraft in the second year, and connect Kathmandu-Chengdu immediately after Lhasa.

“We will put wide-body aircraft into service on the sector based on the travel demand,” he said, adding that the Himalaya Airlines will provide employment to at least 1,000 people and also boost tourist movement to Nepal.   

Yeti Air International (now Himalaya Airlines) has been issued a category B licence that allows it to operate flights of up to 180 minutes’ duration. It can upgrade its licence to category A if it acquires wide body aircraft. It currently holds a permit to fly to 14 international destinations.

“The HIF has invested in the hospitality sector realising Nepal’s vast tourism potential. It could generate a lot of employment opportunities,” said Prithvi Bahadur Pande, chairman of HIF Aviation Investment Company. “I am confident that this joint venture will strengthen ties with China in tourism and aviation sector.”

On the same occasion, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Wu Chuntai said that the joint venture agreement marks the business-to-business cooperation between Nepal and China and would further strengthen economic ties between the two countries. He said that Tibetan Airlines investment is the biggest ever investment in the aviation sector of Nepal.  

The airline has applied to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for an Air Operators Certificate (AOC). Ministry officials said that they had started evaluating the company’s pre-application phase. Low-cost international carrier FlyYeti.com was launched on January 20, 2008 as a joint venture with Air Arabia. It was forced to shut down operations in July the same year after its partner took back its two Airbus A320 aircraft without notice. FlyYeti.com had been scouting for a new partner since then.

Now-defunct Nepali private carriers Necon Air, Cosmic Air, Air Nepal International and BB Airways had started international services but failed to continue them. Currently, Buddha Air is the only private airline operating international flights.

Tibet Airlines, the first worldwide high plateau airline, started its operations in 2011 and currently has nine airbus 320 aircraft on its fleet and connects 24 destinations within China.