SpiceJet, Air India Express gets approved to operate flights from Kathmandu

Two Indian airlines have been allowed to operate regular flights to and from Nepal, according to the Himalayan nation's civil aviation authority.

SpiceJet, which had regular flights to Nepal before the COVID-19 pandemic, and Air India Express, making its debut in the country, have received scheduled approval and slots from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), according to Hansa Raj Pandey, spokesperson at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

SpiceJet, which mainly flew from Delhi to Kathmandu before its hiatus, will operate daily flights, while Air India Express has received approval for two flights per day.

Currently, Air India and Indigo conduct flights between Nepal and India. With the addition of SpiceJet and Air India Express, there will be four Indian airlines operating regular flights between the two countries.

Meanwhile, maintenance work on the taxiway at TIA, which previously required flight suspensions, continued its service without halting flights starting April 1.

The airport started operating for 18 hours daily, from 6 am to midnight, from Tuesday, according to Pandey.

Since the third week of October, the airport has been operating for 14 hours daily to allow maintenance work.