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NAC to resume Simara, Taplejung flights
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is all set to resume flights to Simara and Taplejung from the next week.Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is all set to resume flights to Simara and Taplejung from the next week.
“We will operate daily flights on Simara and three weekly direct flights on Kathmandu-Taplegunj-Kathmandu sectors with a Twin Otter aircraft from Dec 10,” said NAC Spokesperson Ram Hari Sharma, adding the airfares would be announced on Sunday.
The fare on the Kathmandu-Taplejung was Rs6,500 previously. “The fare might go up slightly,” said Sharma. Due to the lack of aircraft, the national flag carrier
had suspended the flights to Simara nearly seven years ago.
Air traffic movements have been continuously increasing at this airport as it links the country with bordering Indian towns and different commercial points of Nepal.
As far as the Taplejung sector is concerned, NAC suspended its flights to Suketar Airport last year due to the runway upgradation work.
The airport, which has been blacktopped now, is the gateway to Kanchanjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. One of the major attractions in Taplejung is the Pathibhara Devi temple, which has been attracting a significant number of foreign and domestic tourists.
Meanwhile, the NAC said it could discontinue airlifting aviation fuel from Kolkata. On October 18, two state-owned entities—NAC and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC)—had reached an agreement to supply uninterrupted aviation turbine fuel to domestic airlines.
As NOC has now assigned a private company to airlift the fuel, NAC said it would now focus on its regular passenger flights. “However, we can continue the fuel shipment at the governments’ request and domestic airlines’ need,” Sharma said.
On Thursday, Petrolimex Nepal has delivered the first batch of the fuel to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), nearly a month after bagging the supply contract. The fuel was brought to Kathmandu by air from Lucknow, India, stored in the wing tanks of a Boeing 767 leased from Jordan Aviation Airline.
The state-owned oil monopoly had signed a contract with Petrolimex Nepal on November 4 for the supply of aviation fuel in a bid to diversify its sources as shipments from its long-time supplier stopped following an unofficial embargo by India.
Petrolimex will be airlifting 400KL of aviation fuel daily. As per the agreement, the company will deliver a total of 3,000KL to NOC.