Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) resumed direct flights to India's business Capital Mumbai on Friday on the heels of adding Delhi and Bangalore to its network. The national flag carrier had suspended operations to Mumbai in 2006 due to lack of aircraft as its fleet dissipated due to varied problems.

As a promotional offer, NAC has launched a “buy two, get one free” scheme on the Bangalore and Mumbai routes. The offer will be valid until September. The airfare on the Kathmandu-Mumbai sector has been set at Rs11,109 while a return ticket costs Rs21,067, including taxes. 

The carrier said that its Airbus A320 took off for Mumbai at 2:10 pm with 52 passengers on board. It said that it has targeted pilgrims and businessmen from Mumbai. 

NAC will be flying to Mumbai on Mondays and Fridays and plans to add more flights based on demand. Currently, Indian carrier Jet Airways operates direct flights to Mumbai. 

NAC had resumed operations on the Kathmandu-Delhi route in February and the Kathmandu-Bangalore route on September 1. It plans to add Kolkata to its network this year.   

The corporation recently acquired two Airbus A320 aircraft. As part of its plan to regain its lost market in the last two decades, it plans to fly to Dubai and Guangzhou by this year. NAC used to fly to Shanghai in the past. 

Travel agencies said that the resumption of NAC flights on these sectors would trigger an airfare war, which would ultimately benefit travellers. 

Meanwhile, Indian carrier Jet Airways has downgraded its double daily flight on the Kathmandu-Mumbai sector to a daily. The frequency will be further reduced to four weekly from September, and the carrier will fix its schedule so as not to clash with NAC’s services. 

During its heyday, NAC used to fly to Amsterdam, Colombo, Dhaka, Frankfurt, Karachi, London, Osaka, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore and Vienna besides five Indian cities—Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Patna. It presently connects Kathmandu with Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Delhi and Bangalore.