The aircraft took-off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport at 11:30 am to Varanasi on Wednesday as proving tests, according to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.  

Proving flight is final phase of the five-phase procedure—pre-application, formal application, document evaluation, inspection and demonstration, and the certification—to obtain the AOC.

The certificate is an integral part of the process that signifies the airline has met all requirements as laid down by the regulator.

Himalaya is a joint venture between Yeti Airlines Group, Himalaya Infrastructure Fund Aviation Investment Company and Tibet Airlines. The airline was launched on August 19, 2014.

Himalaya sources said they took the “alternative move” as the revised Air Operator Certificate Regulation 2012 allows the regulator to issue an AOC for new airlines only after the operator acquires an aircraft. The regulation has fuelled concerns the regulator could ground planes for a long time and impose hefty landing and parking fees for the failure to acquire planes.

As per the plan, Himalaya will put the Jetstream 41 into international charter services to India and will later acquire Airbus A320 jets.

The leased aircraft would be transferred back to Yeti once the airline acquires its own aircraft, the airlines sources said.

Under the old regulation, new airlines were required to purchase aircraft within six months after acquiring the AOC. However, under the revised regulation, Caan will only issue new airlines a no-objection certificate (NOC).