Private airlines seek more seats on Nepal sector

Jet Airways and Air Sahara have decided to request Ministry of Civil Aviation to allocate them more seats in the Kathmandu and Colombo sectors following tremendous response from travellers to the two destinations.

Indian Airlines has already been allocated more seats for these two sectors. The government of Nepal also has decided to approach the Centre through the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) to plead for Jet and Sahara's case.

Similar requests are expected to be put before the ministry by the Sri Lankan government too as the two countries vie to woo Indian tourists.

Jet started its services to Kathmandu from New Delhi on May 14, while Air Sahara will start operations from July 21.

Both airlines are already operating in the Colombo sector. Jet took off on April 1 while Sahara's first flight to Colombo was from Chennai on May 21.

"We have witnessed over 90 percent growth in passenger traffic in the Kathmandu sector month on month and some times the rush is so huge that we face difficulties in handling fliers asking them either to get waitlisted tickets or delay their tour programme," said Nalin Gagrani, marketing manager of Jet.

A source in Air Sahara said, "Even before we could start our flights to Kathmandu, we have received good response, especially from Ahmedabad and Mumbai. We may have to stop taking bookings for the first few flights because of rush."

Both Jet and Sahara have been allocated 1,056 seats per week for Kathmandu.

Indian Airlines has been allotted 1,885 seats a week for Kathmandu and it has been operating from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

"Among the passengers we are handling in the Kathmandu sector, there are a large number of tourists from western India, mainly Gujarat. But we do not have a service directly to Kathmandu from Mumbai or Ahmedabad because of seat constraints," Gagrani said.

In the Colombo sector, Jet has witnessed over 70 percent rise in passenger traffic month on month. "We are allowed to only 23 flights a week but we are operating only seven flights a week as the traffic volume is not that high. But with more and more travel packages being introduced, these 23 flights could be inadequate," he said.

Aditya Baral, manager (tourism marketing & promotion) of NTB, said because of seat restrictions, the tourism business of Nepal faces occasional setbacks.

"We will talk to the ministry of civil aviation and also Government of India for more seats to private airlines, specifically Jet as we have recently tied-up with them for tourism development activities in Nepal," Baral said.

The number of tourists visiting Nepal rose 27 per cent in 2003 over 2002. "This figure will go up thanks to the private airlines," Baral said.