AirAsia to Suspend Flights to Kathmandu

AirAsia, a Malaysian airline company, has notified that it will suspend flights to Kathmandu completely from October 13 for at least one year. The company claimed the shortage of passengers to be the reason for suspending their flights.

According to Rajendra Chhetri, general manager of Tribhuvan International Airport, the letter sent by AirAsia mentions that the company can resume its flights to Kathmandu anytime in the future depending on the flow of passengers.

On the other hand, according to a TIA official, the clear reason that AirAsia is suspending its flights is the controversy the company is facing due to its pending dues to the TIA. The anonymous official said that sooner or later the company would have to face the action for repeatedly delaying the pending payments.

The company has paid Rs. 220 million of the Rs. 350 million pending dues till date. Moreover, TIA had threatened to blacklist the airline if they failed to pay the airport service charge. It has also come to the notice that the local general sales agent of AirAsia has been deceiving the TIA by issuing bounced cheques.

Conversely, TIA general manager Chhetri was optimistic that the company would clear its outstanding dues on time and also its flights. He informed that if the company failed to make payments on time, TIA would be adopting legal provisions.