Aviation History
Nepal's air-transport era began in 1949 with the first flight into the Kathmandu valley, followed by the 1958 founding of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (renamed Nepal Airlines Corporation in 2006) as the flag carrier. The country's extreme mountain terrain produced a distinctive network of short-takeoff airstrips, most famously Lukla's Tenzing–Hillary Airport, alongside a difficult aviation-safety record. Since 2013 all Nepal-registered carriers have been on the EU's list of banned air operators over safety-oversight concerns; the ban has been reviewed and extended repeatedly (still in force as of 2025) and its status should be checked for the latest determination.
The first aircraft landed at the Gauchar airfield near Kathmandu, opening Nepal to air travel.
The Kathmandu airfield was inaugurated as Tribhuvan Airport, later expanded and renamed Tribhuvan International Airport in 1964.
Nepal's flag carrier was established in July 1958, beginning operations with a single Douglas DC-3.
The airline acquired its first jet aircraft, Boeing 727s, starting Nepal's transition to jet-powered service.
A Concorde landed at Tribhuvan International Airport on 11 October 1987, a rare visit by the supersonic airliner.
Nepal opened its domestic aviation market to private carriers, enabling airlines such as Buddha Air and Yeti Airlines to emerge over the following years.
Amid Nepal's political shift away from the monarchy, the carrier dropped 'Royal' from its name to become Nepal Airlines Corporation.
The European Union added all Nepal-registered carriers to its list of banned air operators over safety-oversight concerns; the ban has since been reviewed and extended repeatedly and remains an evolving situation.
Nepal Airlines Corporation · Buddha Air · Yeti Airlines · Himalaya Airlines
Wikipedia, EU Air Safety List, Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, Nepali and international press (Kathmandu Post, Himalayan Times, The Diplomat)
Aviation Firsts
Gauchar Havaalanı (bugünkü Tribhuvan Uluslararası Havalimanı) — Kathmandu (1949): İlk uçak inişi 23 Nisan 1949 (RAF Binbaşı Dalip Singh Majithia'nın kullandığı bir Beechcraft Bonanza). İlk tarifeli/charter servis 20 Şubat 1950 (Himalayan Aviation'ın Kalküta'ya charter seferi; Hindistan tescilli bir Dakota aynı gün Kathmandu–Patna–Kolkata–Delhi tarifeli seferine başladı). 15 Haziran 1955'te Kral Mahendra tarafından resmen açılıp Tribhuvan Havalimanı adını aldı; 1964'te 'Tribhuvan Uluslararası Havalimanı' oldu. Bugün Nepal'in ana uluslararası kapısı. · KTM ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Simara Havaalanı (1946): Hemant Arjyal'in 2017 República dergisindeki bir yazısına dayanan tek bir iddia, orada 7 Mayıs 1946'da bir RAF C-47'nin zorunlu inişini ('Nepal'in ilk havacılık kazası') anıyor — bu da Simara'da Gauchar'dan üç yıl önce bir tür havaalanı/pist olabileceğini düşündürüyor. Wikipedia'nın kendisi bu iddiayı 'tartışmalı' olarak işaretliyor ve Simara'nın resmi kuruluş tarihini 4 Temmuz 1958 olarak veriyor. · Wikipedia ↗
Simara'nın 1946 iddiası Wikipedia'nın kendisi tarafından 'tartışmalı' olarak işaretlenmiş, tek ikincil kaynağa dayanıyor. Gauchar/Tribhuvan (1949) çok daha güçlü ve tutarlı belgelenen aday.
Nepal Airlines (eski adıyla Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation) (1958): 1 Temmuz 1958'de, tek bir Douglas DC-3 ile kuruldu. Wikipedia açıkça 'ülkenin en eski havayolu' olduğunu belirtiyor; araştırmada daha eski, Nepal merkezli bir havayolu bulunamadı (1951'deki Hindistan Ulusal Havayolları ve 1953'teki Himalayan Aviation, Hindistan merkezli/yabancı operatörlerdi, Nepal'e ait değillerdi). Bugün devlet sahipli Nepal Airlines Corporation olarak faaliyette. · RA ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
No documented foreign entrant found. Ground handling at Tribhuvan International Airport (Kathmandu) is dominated by Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), a domestic state carrier's in-house unit, explicitly excluded by the task definition. Himalaya Airlines (a Nepal-China joint-venture carrier) separately received a self-handling license, but that is self-handling for its own flights, not a third-party foreign GH company serving the market. No evidence of Swissport, dnata, Menzies, Çelebi, Havaş, WFS, NAS or any other foreign third-party ground handler operating in Nepal was found.