Shangri-La Air

Shangri-La Air
IATA ICAO Call sign
- - -
Commenced operations1999
Ceased operations2008
AOC #029/99[1]
Operating basesTribhuvan International Airport
Fleet size1 (at closure)
HeadquartersKathmandu, Nepal
Employees250 (2001)[2]
Shangri-La Air's Twin Otter at Pokhara Airport in 2000

Shangri-La Air was an airline based in Nepal. It partly merged with Necon Air in 2001 and eventually ceased operations in 2008.[citation needed]

History

The airline started operations in October 1999 with oneDe Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft.[3] Its name is derived from Shangri-La, a fictitious place described in James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon.[citation needed].

In 2001 Shangri-La Air and Karnali Air were partly merged into Necon Air. Shangri-La Air was operating a fleet of six aircraft, two Beechcraft 1900Ds and four De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters. Necon Air took over the Beechcraft,[2] and Shangri-La continued operating the DHC-6s.

In August 2002,[4] after the loss of one DHC-6, the airline operated only two aircraft.[5] In 2007 its fleet consisted of only one DHC-6, until its closure in 2008.[6]

Destinations

Shangri-La Air regularly served the following destinations, some of which were discontinued before its closure:[3]

City Airport Notes Refs
Bhairahawa Gautam Buddha Airport
Bharatpur Bharatpur Airport
Jomsom Jomsom Airport
Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport Hub
Lukla Tenzing–Hillary Airport
Phaplu Phaplu Airport
Pokhara Pokhara Airport
Rumjatar Rumjatar Airport
Pipara Simara Simara Airport

It also ran scheduled mountain sightseeing flights from Kathmandu to the Mount Everest range. They usually departed in the early morning hours and returned one hour later.[7]

Fleet

At the time of closure, Shangri-La Air operated the following aircraft:[2]

Shangri-La Air Fleet at closure in 2008
Aircraft In fleet Notes
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 1

Former fleet

Shangri-La Air former Fleet
Aircraft In fleet Notes
Beechcraft 1900D 2
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 3

Incidents and accidents

References

  1. ^ "Civil Aviation Report 2010" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Operational Merge : Need of the Hour". nepalnews.com. Business Age. Archived from the original on 23 August 2002.
  3. ^ a b "Domestic Flight Booking". Nepal Trailblazer. Archived from the original on 8 December 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  4. ^ JP airlines-fleets international, Edition 2002/03
  5. ^ JP airlines-fleets international, Editions 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06, and 2006/07
  6. ^ JP airlines-fleets international, Editions 2007/08, 2008/09, and 2009/10
  7. ^ "Operations". Shangri-La Air. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006.
  8. ^ "Aviation Safety Net Accident Description". Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2006.