After a long 12 years, Nepal Airlines has once again connected Kathmandu to Japan! The airlines flew its Makalu Airbus A330-200 aircraft at 2.30AM on Thursday 29th August with a disappointing number of passengers. Apparently there were only 134 passengers and the numbers have been even lower after the inaugural flight (Aviation Nepal). Unfortunately, the tickets for the Kathmandu-Osaka route have not sold as much as the airlines had anticipated. The national airline announced three-weekly flights between Kathmandu to Osaka, however there has already been plans to reduce the flights to two per week!
The wide-body aircraft seats approximately 270. It’s definitely important that the airline takes swift action to curb any losses. Let’s hope that the Dashain period and the peak tourist season will attract more people to fly Nepal Airlines Osaka – Kathmandu route.
Apart from the flights and a good introductory offer on the tickets, I would recommend continuous promotion of the route so more people are aware that there is now a direct flight between Japan and Nepal. It’s a golden opportunity for Nepal Tourism Board and travel operators in Japan to host and create familiarisation press trips to Kathmandu (vice-versa). That would be a boon to promote Visit Nepal 2020 as well as Nepal Airlines new route!
On the topic of promotions, here’s a vlog from Ram Sharan Upreti who was one of the lucky few to fly Kathmandu to Osaka on the inaugural flight. Enjoy his vlog below!
PS. If you fancy a trip to Japan then a one way ticket from KTM to Osaka will cost you Nrs 36,999! A round trip will set you back Nrs 72,814.
