A conflict emerged between airline operators and CAAN after the latter announced nighttime flights to ease the congestion at the Tribhuwan International Airport. As the conflict looked to escalate, a committee has been formed to find a resolution between the two parties.
Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) had announced that it would extend Nepali domestic flights to 18-hour by adding new flights at night. The idea was to alleviate the growing bustle at the TIA. CAAN said it would use airports in Terai so that TIA would be at ease handling hectic management.
But the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal didn’t agree with the resolve and threatened to ground its flights. It said the airlines can’t maintain flights past 8 PM and if CAAN stays firm, then the airlines would halt flights from April 29th, Friday. So a committee is formed to iron out differences between airline operators and CAAN.
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Technical difficulties to fly past 8 PM
Regarding the issue, Airlines Operators Association’s spokesman Yograj Kandel cited technical liabilities behind the reluctance to fly past 8 PM.
The Airlines Operators Association of Nepal released a Press Release saying its attention was drawn to a nighttime slot by CAAN. The Authority had written a letter on April Wednesday 27th, to domestic airlines informing them about new time slots at night.
However, Airline operators have rejected the decree calling it risky to board flights past 8 PM.
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Airline operators and CAAN in dialogue
In its notice, the Association has demanded that CAAN revert back to the prior flight schedule warning that if failed so, it would halt all the flights in the future.
It said the licensed airline companies Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines, Saurya Airlines, and Gun Airlines will stop boarding flights if CAAN does not revises its time slots.
But after the dialogue began, the Association has softened its earlier stance to halt services. Spokesman Kandel says “we are hopeful of a positive outcome through the talk. If not, we will go to ‘shut down’ after 12:30 PM.”
“For now, we have resumed regular flights as scheduled,” Airlines Operators Association has said.