Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has halted the wide-body flight RA-217 of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), while it was preparing to fly to New Delhi with 273 passengers.
General Manager of TIA Premnath Thakur canceled the flight on Sunday, said Ramesh Paudel, Deputy Director General of the Corporation.
Paudel further said that the international flights from Kathmandu to Delhi scheduled for 1:45 pm on Sundays and Fridays approved by the CAN for the winter session (October 30 to March 27) has been curtailed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
"We were flying to Delhi seven days a week in the afternoon during the summer schedule (from March 28 to October 29)," Paudel, Deputy Director General of the Corporation said.
Paudel said that the CAAN asked the Corporation and Himalaya Airlines to start flights from Bhairahawa as well, but because they did not have a schedule there due to lack of passengers, the CAAN cut down two flights from Kathmandu to Delhi every seven days in the afternoon.
Thakur, General Manager of the TIA, said that the corporation's flight had to be stopped because passengers were boarding without permission. "Why has the corporation sold tickets without taking flight permission from the CAAN? This is fraud on the passenger," Thakur said.
According to him, the corporation had already sold tickets to 273 passengers for Sunday. He said that he stopped when he found out that the boarding pass was being issued and said that 73 passengers had taken the boarding pass and went through the security check.
When contacted for information on this matter, Yuvaraj Adhikari, the executive chairman of the NAC, did not respond to it.
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