A new first long-range Airbus A330-200 aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation is welcomed by a traditional water cannon salute at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines power the new aircraft. Photo: Skanda Gautam/THT
Kathmandu, July 31
The first-ever long-range aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation – Airbus A330-200 wide-body plane that has been christened ‘Annapurna’ with call sign 9N-ALY – will fly its maiden commercial flight to Doha with more than 90 per cent occupancy tomorrow.
Annapurna is scheduled to make its maiden commercial flight from Tribhuvan International Airport to Hamad International Airport in Doha of Qatar at 10:00pm on Wednesday. The return flight has been scheduled for Thursday and will be touching down at TIA at 8:40 pm.
“We have received a massive response from travellers to fly on NAC’s new plane and by evening today, more than 250 seats have been booked,” said Krishna Gopal Joshi, commercial director at NAC.
The 274-seater Annapurna has 16 business class and 258 economy class seats.
According to Joshi, till today bookings for two business class seats had been made and the remaining were for economy class seats.
Meanwhile, NAC has launched a promotional offer with a one-way flight from Kathmandu to Doha costing Rs 11,000 and a return ticket at Rs 18,000. The baggage allowance for each business class passenger has been set at 99 kg and 49 kg for economy class passenger.
Earlier, the Annapurna had successfully conducted the proving flight to Delhi from Tribhuvan International Airport on July 23. The first maiden commercial flight will be flown under the command of Nepali and foreign crew members, namely Captain Srawan Rijal, Captain Raman Ghimire, Captain Francois Fernrt, Captain Deepu Jwarchan and Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Antonie Gaignard.
The national flag carrier had signed an agreement with AAR Corporation to buy two Airbus 330-200 series wide-body aircraft worth $209.6 million. AAR Corporation has provided the aircraft to NAC in partnership with German Capital and Hi-Fly Airlines.
Written by Sandeep
This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/over-90pc-occupancy-in-annapurnas-maiden-flight-to-doha-today/ under the title “Over 90pc occupancy in Annapurna’s maiden flight to Doha today”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
