Nepal Airlines may not return to India

[LUNN]

The flag carrier pulled out of Delhi their last Indian destination last winter or early this year and were planning to resume servcie there in October but due to the influx on Indian carriers who have captured the market they may not be able to do that, also citing lack of aircraft as another reason.

RA currently only serve five cities Dubai, Doha, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong besides some domestic routes.

[CathayPacific]

RA is facing fierce competition in all the remaining destinations (except KUL) it serves. Its product is outdated and the aircraft really old comparing to its competitors.

Dragonair will increase KTM to 9 weekly with A330-300. Thai has daily service to KTM compare to 2/weekly with RA. FlyDubai flies there 12 times a week. Are you sure RA still flies to DOH? I don't see RA on the schedule of the route any more. There are only 4 daily flights by QR.

KUL seems to be doing well for RA, not sure why MH doesn't fly the route.

[SAMRPICS]

If its doing well for Nepal Airlines i would say its only a matter of time before Malaysian start the route.

[LUNN]

Doha is still there in schedules and on home page fare promo http://www.nepalairlines.com.np/

[AA 1818]

I never understood why they operated 757s. Was the capacity ever really there? Or was it just for the range?

Anyway, maybe it's time for a new fleet, and or/greater codesharing with other airlines out there to grow demand/opportunity...

[SAMRPICS]

I agree, getting a couple of A319/A320 aircraft would probably serve them better and if they own those two 757s im sure Fedex would make them a decent offer for the pair. Having those smaller aircraft could also open up new markets too them that the 757 was much too big for. It would also cut their costs down.

[CathayPacific]

Originally Posted by AA 1818

I never understood why they operated 757s. Was the capacity ever really there? Or was it just for the range?

Anyway, maybe it's time for a new fleet, and or/greater codesharing with other airlines out there to grow demand/opportunity...

They bought the 757 very early. Those are pretty old birds. At the time, it makes sense. The 757 were purchased to replace the 727. They need the range (6000km+) with limited capacity. The only other narrowbodies at that time was 737-200/-300 and MD80, and definitely do not have the range required. They were flying to Europe with the 757 so the type was the only type available to fly that kind of range with sub-200 pax capacity back in the 1980s.

Also, one of the 757s is actually a combi (the only 757 combi sold directly by Boeing), because the cargo capacity is required.

As of whether the capacity is required for KTM, may be it is actually. Keep in mind that QR is flying there 4 times a day, even with A320, QR would be providing 600+ seats daily to KTM. TG is also flying there with widebodies (A300/A330), and now so as Dragonair. So the demand to KTM is there. The question is whether RA can capture that demand.