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| Martin Air Inaugural Flight to Nepal: A Boost For Nepalese Tourism |
| 21-Oct-2003 |
Coinciding with the commencement of the peak tourist season in Nepal; Martinair; a subsidiary of KLM Dutch airline; has launched its once a week flight from 9 October 2003 between Kathmandu and Amsterdam;The Netherlands via Sharjah(UAE).Martinair will be operating its flights to Kathmandu till 14 April; 2004 and then again during the autumn season. The inaugural flight with the occupancy of 199 out of full seat capacity of 219 landed at Tribhuvan International Airport; Kathmandu at 15:35 hrs. All the passengers coming by this inaugural flight of the Martinair were welcomed by Panchakanyas and officials of Nepal Tourism Board and Martinair GSA/Kathmandu.
Martin Air; one of the few airlines offering direct services to Europe; replaces Transavia Airlines which will now be concentrating its flights within Europe. The Martinair offers worldwide connections at the Martinair hub in Amsterdam. During the first weeks; the flight will be operated by a Boeing 757-200 offering a capacity of 219 Economy Class seats and will be replaced by a Boeing 767-300ER as from December 22; 2003. By replacing the B757; the Martinair will increase the number of Economy Class seats to 248; and will also have 24 Star Class seats.
The Martinair flight to Kathmandu provides one of the best transit connections in Europe and will play a vital role in increasing tourist traffic from Europe and USA to Nepal. The month of September; 03 witnessed yet another healthy growth of tourist arrivals in Nepal with a total number of 23;754 visitors by air. It is an increase of twenty five percent relative to the same month of the previous year. European markets viz: Germany; France; Netherlands; Belgium; Spain; Italy are the major tourist generating countries for Nepal and Nepal in the month of September;03 has received a remarkable growth of tourist arrivals with + 39% from UK; +7% from Germany; + 45 % from France and +146 % from Spain. Tourism still remains immune to the domestic conflict due to the fact that international online carriers to Nepal are flying to Nepal with full seat capacity occupancy during the months of September and October. Gulf Air has been fully booked during October and mid November in the Abu Dhabi-Kathmandu sector. Out of the total bookings in Qatar Airways and Gulf Airways in Kathmandu sector; 80 % and 90 % respectively are European tourists from France; Germany; U.K; Italy. Indian Airlines flying at 90 % of the daily 245 seat capacity from Delhi to Kathmandu is carrying mostly the European tourists especially Spanish. Austrian Airlines has already started operating its weekly flight to Kathmandu from Vienna; Austria from 18 September; 2003.
Similarly Nepal has been ranked as one of the top ten popular destinations in Eco tourism for Germany and U.K. according to a recent WTO(World Tourism Organization) survey.
Source: NTB |
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