Domestic movement at TIA dips 3.6pc with fewer Indian tourists

DOMESTIC passenger movement through Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) dropped 3.60 percent year-on-year to 772,873 in the first six months of 2013.

Airline officials blamed reduced tourist movement from India for the decline in passenger flow. The April- June period usually sees the highest number of travellers from India. “Airlines did not receive the expected number of Indian travellers this year,” said Prajwol Thapa, marketing manager of Simrik Airlines. Although an increase in the number of Chinese visitors ensured a busy season, it did not benefit air carriers. According to airline officials, Chinese tourists do not like to fly in Nepal these days. “In the past, mountain viewing flights and flights to Pokhara used to receive a large number of Chinese travellers,” Thapa added. Travel agents cited frequent air crashes in Nepal as the reason for Chinese tourists opting to travel by surface routes. Meanwhile, things are going to be harder for airlines in the coming days. The revised Flight Operation Requirement manual with improved weight specifications imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal after the Sita Air crash means that airlines will have to cut the number of passengers they can carry. The maximum weight of a foreign passenger, which was fixed at 75 kg, has been revised to 90 kg. The weight for a Nepali passenger has been fixed at 75 kg. It was 70 kg earlier. “This provision will require small aircraft to reduce their load by three foreign passengers,” said Bhim Raj Rai, airport service manager of Yeti Airlines. “Although the revision will not affect aircraft occupancy on the domestic sectors, it will affect the tourist sectors.” Larger sized aircraft will be affected less. Meanwhile, increased fuel prices has become another concern for airlines. In the last two years, airfares have gone up by Rs 2,000 on longhaul routes and Rs 500-700 on shorthaul sectors. Following the latest hike in fuel prices by Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), carriers have decided to raise the fuel surcharge by 8-10 percent from Thursday. NOC jacked up prices of aviation fuel for domestic airlines by Rs 10 to Rs 130 per litre on Saturday. The September-November period is the prime business season for domestic carriers with the Dashain and Tihar festivals coinciding with the tourist season. “CAAN’s revised manual and the hike in the fuel surcharge are likely to hit airline occupancy in the upcoming tourist season,” Rai said, adding that airlines would also suffer during the off-season. “However, it will not have a significant effect in the upcoming festival season as travellers are willing to pay more during the festival rush.” According to TIA, there were 33,038 flights in the Nepali skies in the review period, down 6.71 percent. Buddha Air, Tara Air, Simrik Airlines and Sita Air recorded growths in terms of passenger occupancy during the first half of 2012. Buddha Air flew 442,033 travellers, up 5.16 percent year on year. However, Buddha’s nearest competitor Yeti Airlines saw its passenger movement drop 3.97 percent to 220,167. Yeti Airlines’s subsidiary Tara Air saw a jump of 13.97 percent, flying 39,176 passengers during the period. Simrik Airlines’ passenger occupancy soared 146 percent to 24,474 while Nepal Airlines’ occupancy plunged 20.20 percent. Sita Air saw a marginal growth of 0.80 percent in its passenger carriage. Airline 2012 2013 Change (in %) Buddha Air 420,311 442,033 5.16 Yeti Airlines 229,292 220,167 -3.97 Tara Air 34,435 39,176 13.76 Simrik Airlines 9,925 24,474 146.58 Nepal Airlines 18,378 14,664 -20.20 Sita Air 4,231 4,265 0.80 (Source: TIA) PASSENGER MOVEMENT (JAN-JULY)