Two Indian airlines, SpiceJet and Air India Express, have received permission to operate scheduled flights to Kathmandu. According to the Summer Schedule published by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), SpiceJet will resume its daily New Delhi–Kathmandu flights starting May 10. The flight will arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 9:55 am and depart at 10:55 am. The airline will use a Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft with a seating capacity of 189 passengers.
SpiceJet had suspended its Kathmandu operations during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has appointed Himalayan Globe Travel Services as its General Sales Agent (GSA) in Nepal. Meanwhile, Air India Express, the low-cost subsidiary of Air India, has received permission to operate daily flights to Kathmandu from Bangalore and Mumbai. According to CAAN, the Bangalore flight will arrive in Kathmandu 8:05 am and depart at 9:05 am. The Mumbai flight will land at 5:05 pm and depart at 6:00 pm. Both services are scheduled to commence in June. Air India Express has not made any formal announcement regarding its new flights.
With the addition of these two carriers, the number of Indian airlines operating regular flights to Kathmandu has increased to four. Full-service airline Air India has six daily flights on the New Delhi–Kathmandu route whereas low-cost carrier IndiGo operates three daily flights from New Delhi and one from Mumbai.
Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, also operates direct flights to New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore from Kathmandu. The privately-owned Nepali carrier, Buddha Air, flies to Varanasi from Kathmandu. Bhutanese carriers—Bhutan Airlines and Druk Air—also operate flights between Kathmandu and New Delhi.
India is the largest tourism source country for Nepal, accounting for nearly one-third of the total international tourist arrivals. Improved air connectivity between major Indian cities and Kathmandu is expected to further boost tourist inflow to Nepal.
