Himalaya Airlines, a Nepal-China joint venture, conducted a proving flight on Wednesday on the Kathmandu-Delhi-Kathmandu sector with its Airbus 320. The test flight is usually made to prepare for commercial operations.

During a proving flight, the aircraft is loaded with passengers and baggage and flown on routes that it is intended to serve.

The carrier said it would apply for permission to conduct regular flights on the sector after the test flight.  

Himalaya Airlines said that the proving flight of the new aircraft with Nepali registration 9N-ALM was conducted under the supervision of inspectors from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

“The proving flight was successfully conducted today, and we will commence commercial operations soon,” said Vijay Shrestha, Vice President Administrations said.

The airline has fixed

Delhi and Doha as its first destinations which it will start serving in April. Flights to Lhasa, Chengdu and Beijing in China will be started a few months later.  

Himalaya will be the sixth airline to operate on the Delhi sector after Nepal Airlines, Jet Airways, Air India, Druk Air and IndiGo. It plans to expand services to Doha on April 12. Himalaya will be the second carrier to connect Doha from Nepal after Qatar Airways.

The airline received its first aircraft on March 9. It was used to fly Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his entourage on an official visit to Beijing on March 20.

Himalaya had previously planned to launch scheduled flights in October 2014, but the plan was deferred due to technical problems. The launch date was pushed back further by the devastating April 25 earthquake last year.

The company plans to link various Asian and Middle Eastern cities initially. It has aimed to acquire 15 Airbus aircraft, including the long-haul A330, to extend its network to Japan, Korea, Europe, Australia and America in the next five years.

Himalayan Infrastructure Fund Aviation Investment and Yeti World Investment hold a 51 percent stake in the company while Tibet Airlines owns 49 percent.

The company has a paid-up capital of $25 million. It is

the biggest foreign direct investment from China in Nepal’s aviation sector. Currently, 25 international and two Nepali airlines connect Kathmandu with 23 destinations in 13 countries.