Himalaya operates diplomatic charter flight to China

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 11: Upon request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Himalaya Airlines was honored to operate a special diplomatic charter flight to Qingdao (Tsingtao), China on Aug 09, 2022, for the official visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka.  Himalaya’s Airbus 319, 9N AJK with flight no. H9 7220 departed from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 23.07hrs(local time) carrying an eleven-member delegation of MOFA officials and landed at Qingdao Liuting International Airport (IATA: TAO, ICAO: ZSQD) at 07.55 hrs (local time) yesterday.

After the two-day official visit to Qingdao, the delegation will return on Aug 11, 2022, via flight H9 7221 departing at 15.00 hrs (local time) and is expected to arrive in Kathmandu at 16.50 hrs (local time) on Aug 11, 2022.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, air travel between Nepal & China had come to a standstill with various travel restrictions imposed by both countries. However, with the pandemic under control and normalcy regained, Himalaya started its scheduled operation to Kunming, China with a weekly flight from 31st May 2022.

Since there is no direct scheduled flight to Qingdao from Kathmandu, the airlines operated this particular charter flight obtaining all the necessary permissions.

Himalaya Airlines operated a diplomatic charter flight to Qingdao, China

Upon request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Himalaya Airlines was honored to operate a special diplomatic charter flight to Qingdao (Tsingtao), China on Aug 09, 2022, for the official visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka.  Himalaya’s Airbus 319, 9N AJK with flight no. H9 7220 departed from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 23.07hrs(local time) carrying an eleven-member delegation of MOFA officials and landed at Qingdao Liuting International Airport (IATA: TAO, ICAO: ZSQD) at 07.55 hrs (local time) yesterday.

After the two-day official visit to Qingdao, the delegation will return on Aug 11, 2022, via flight H9 7221 departing at 15.00 hrs (local time) and is expected to arrive in Kathmandu at 16.50 hrs (local time) on Aug 11, 2022.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, air travel between Nepal & China had come to a standstill with various travel restrictions imposed by both countries. However, with the pandemic under control and normalcy regained, Himalaya started its scheduled operation to Kunming, China with a weekly flight from 31st May 2022.

Since there is no direct scheduled flight to Qingdao from Kathmandu, the airlines operated this particular charter flight obtaining all the necessary permissions.

Himalaya Airlines (H9) a Nepal – China joint venture was established in 2014, with two core objectives to promote people-to-people contact of Nepal with the other countries and to promote Nepal’s trade and tourism, claims a press release issued by the company. 

H9 is the joint alliance between Tibet Aviation Development & Investment Company Ltd. (TADIC) from Tibet Autonomous Region of The People’s Republic of China and Yeti World Investment Pvt. Ltd. of Kathmandu, Nepal. 

"Within a short span of seven years of establishment, H9 acquired 4 aircraft in its fleet; three Airbus 320-214 configured with 180 all-economy seats and one Airbus 319-115 with 144 economy seats. H9 is currently operating passenger flights to prominent countries of the Middle East & South Asia: UAE, Malaysia, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bangladesh whereas cargo flights exclusively to & from China," the release states.