5.43 PM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Air Arabia Nepal-KL route in doubt?

Nepal’s Himalayan News Service has reported the committee has directed the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation to scrap the operation permit of Air Arabia. (FILE)

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

Even as the Sharjah-based Air Arabia announces its new route to Sohag, Egypt from December 27, the carrier has come under fire by the Nepali parliament’s international relations and human rights committee for the launch of its Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur flights that start Thursday.

Nepal’s Himalayan News Service has reported the committee has directed the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation to scrap the operation permit of Air Arabia, citing that it would hurt the profitability of the country’s flagship carrier, Nepal Airlines.

In a statement to Emirates 24|7, an Air Arabia Spokesperson said: “As per the air service agreement between the UAE and Nepal, Air Arabia is permitted to fly between Kathmandu and Kula Lumpur under the airline’s fifth freedom right. Operations to the City of Kuala Lumpur is scheduled to start on December 16.”

However, C P Gajurel, a UCPN-Maoists lawmaker was reported as saying: “The decision is illegal as the ministry did not seek the permission from Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in accordance with the NAC Act-2019.”

He added that the ministry could allow Air Arabia to fly on any other routes except the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur route.

Nepal Airlines also issued a directive sating that the ministry’s decision would hurt its business, which was the most lucrative on the Malaysia-Nepal route, earning it eight million Nepali rupees per flight. The route is widely used by Nepalese migrant workers travelling to Malaysia for employment.

“The NAC flies six days a week on the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur route carrying 1,140 passengers due to increased migration of Nepali workers to Malaysia, that is the biggest destination for Nepali blue-coller job seekers,” said K B Limbu, General Manager of NAC that has opposed the ministry decision to award its profitable route to a foreign airline.

“The government has permitted Air Arabia to operate six flights a week on Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur route under the revised Air Service Agreement between the UAE and Nepal in 2007, offering the airline fifth freedom rights that allows an airline to carry passenger from one’s own country to a second country and from that country to a third country,” Sarat Singh Bhandari, Minister for MoTCA, was quoted as saying.

On December 2, Nepal’s government said it would allow Air Arabia to the fights between Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur, starting December 16.

The Civil Aviation Ministry said the decision was taken to make up for insufficient flights on the route as Nepal enters a year of intensive tourism promotion in 2011, which earn the country Rs125 million annually.

Air Arabia has of late continued its aggressive expansion drive, with a third new destination launching Friday in the form of Kabul, Afghanistan.