Aio86 From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 928 posts, RR: 0 Posted (12 years 7 months 2 weeks 11 hours ago) and read 581 times:
I realized something a little while ago. There are only 5 important international airlines that fly to Nepal, Austrian, Air India, Royal Nepal, Thai and Singapore. Why don't more airlines fly to this important tourist destination. I wish that someone like JAL or ANA would fly there. To get there from LA you have to make 2 connections, in Tokyo/Osaka/Taipei/Hong Kong (If you connected on Cathay Pacific/Northwest or United) and in Singapore/Bangkok for someone on the east coast they could connect in Delhi, Frankfurt (Royal Nepal flies there) or Vienna. But for us on the west coast it's a pain. Is it that the Kathmandu airport is too small? No I doubt it since Lauda used to fly 777s there before Austrian took over with 767s. ANA could fly 767s their, maybe Cathay Pacific could send a 330 there? Any responses would be apreciated. By the way did anyone realize that three of the five airlines that fly their are in Star- Alliance; Thai, Singapore & Austrian!
-Aaron, LAX
CV990A From United States of America, joined Sep 1999, 1391 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (12 years 7 months 2 weeks 10 hours ago) and read 555 times:
I think its a question of being able to support the flight long-term with acceptable passenger loads. Just how high is the demand for flights to Nepal anyway?
JaseWGTN From New Zealand, joined Mar 2000, 816 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (12 years 7 months 2 weeks 7 hours ago) and read 542 times:
Aio86.
Please don't take this as being rude when I say it, but the airlines when they do their schedules don't think we have to make it easier for the Americans from the West Coast to get there. They do their routes for a profit.
Lufthansa flew there until last year also, but pulled out due to low profits.
Gardermoen From Australia, joined Jul 1999, 1518 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (12 years 7 months 1 week 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 506 times:
Dragonair have announced they will soon resume Hong Kong-Kathmandu flights with a twice weeky A330 service.
I do know Martinair flies charters there with 767s from Amsterdam.
From what I read in some article, I think the runway at KTM cannot handle such large aircraft as 747s, so many long haul airlines do not fly there.
PIA Also fly there twice weekly from Karachi, and also important is the DAILY A300 service from Doha on Qatar Airways. This is an important link as it connects with its flights to London and Munich.
Amir From Syria, joined Dec 1999, 1254 posts, RR: 13 Reply 8, posted (12 years 7 months 1 week 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 504 times:
Hi,
Though Katmandu is a great destination, most of the traffic Outbound/inbound is of touristic nature. This means very low yields. Beside this, the traffic volume -seen from a european point of origin, where most of the Nepal tourists come from- doesn't support a daily operation, rather a 4/5 weekly roundtrips with an A310/A300 or 757/767. All this makes a KTM operation a very costly one for regular european airlines. Many have tried it and finally gave it up. But meanwhile the gulf carriers have filled the gap by offering good flights and of course excellent conex to Europe via their hubs. As Gardermoen mentioned QR (Qatar Airways) is the new airline to KTM with good conex via DOH to LHR, MUC (tie up with LH!!!).
Airbus A3XX From Australia, joined May 1999, 507 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (12 years 7 months 1 week 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 489 times:
I think Dragonair is only going to fly a A320 there.
Also, I think Austrian USED to fly to Kathmandu but now Lauda AIr took over that and flies a 767(I think the flight stops at Delhi?).
Jaysit From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 13, posted (12 years 7 months 1 week 6 days 16 hours ago) and read 482 times:
My understanding is that Thai and Singapore offer the best connections via their hubs. If you're flying from the West Coast you change planes only once. How hard is that to do? You board a 744 in LA or SFO, hang around Changi or BKK for a few hours and then board an Airbus to KTM.
The demand for flights into KTM is very seasonal. Also, the bulk of tourists into KTM are Indian, or Europeans who combine their Nepal jaunt with a trip to India. THere are a gazillion flights to India. From Delhi you can hop onto half a dozen daily flights to KTM.
Western carriers are not going to dedicate long haul wide-bodies to twice weekly routes filled with backpackers. The reason Gulf carriers offer daily flights into KTM is because of the big labor pool that Nepal provides.
Jaysit From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (12 years 7 months 1 week 6 days 15 hours ago) and read 473 times:
yes, but its a direct flight to bkk or sin.
Or else you can wait until 2004 when SQ have west coast non-stops to Singapore on their Airbus A340-500s.
Until then, 2 stops to Nepal is a pretty good way to go, considering that in 1980 you probably had to make 6 stops and a night's layover in Delhi. Only primary markets merit non-stops or one-stop flights, especially if geographic or economic constraints state otherwise.
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