NAC to relaunch Mumbai flight from May 1

Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is relaunching its Mumbai flight from May 1.
"NAC will fly twice a week on the Kathmandu-Mumbai-Kathmandu route," said Raju K C, spokesperson for the national flag carrier.
"Five days a week it will fly on Kathmandu-New Delhi-Kathmandu route, except Mondays and Fridays when it will fly to Mumbai," he said adding that the Mumbai flight, contrary to the New Delhi one in the evenings, will be in the afternoon.
The flight duration of Mumbai-Kathmandu is a little over two hours and it will take off at 1.25 pm from Kathmandu and land at 3.45 pm in Mumbai. "In the evening, the aircraft returns at 4.50 pm from Mumbai and lands at 7.55 pm at Tribhuwan International Airport," K C said.
NAC has also offered discount rates on its ticket on the occasion of the relaunch of the Mumbai flight. Earlier, NAC -- then RNAC -- used to fly on the route regularly from 1992 to 2007. Currently, it is flying to six international destinations and re-launching the flight to Mumbai will make it the seventh international destination.
The ailing national carrier has only two Boeing 757s -- Gandaki (RA 217) and Karnali (RA 218) -- since long and it is planning to buy more aircraft after a bid to lease aircraft failed last month.
In the late '80s, the then RNAC acquired two Boeing 757s on lease -- Karnali in 1987 and Gandaki in 1988. After, the movement in 1990, successive governments of Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (UML) had leased aircraft from Lauda Airlines and China South Western Airlines amid controversy.
The present Maoist-led government has decided to buy brand new aircraft instead of leasing them like its predecessors. In the budget for the fiscal year 2008-09, Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai assured that the government will guarantee to acquire necessary funding to purchase two large aircraft for NAC to enhance international seat capacity and make services timely and reliable.
With work in progress for Nepal Tourism Year 2011, Nepal badly needs new aircraft to boost tourism.