Air services to Kathmandu return to normal

Air services to quake-devastated Nepalese capital Kathmandu from India returned to normal today but shortage of parking bays at the airport was preventing the carriers to operate more flights to evacuate stranded people.

Jet Airways, meanwhile, said it will waive off freight charges for shipment of relief material on board its flights to Kathmandu.

Air India and SpiceJet were able to operate only one extra flight each in addition to their scheduled services.

"Air India was able to operate four flights to Kathmandu today. Of these, three were from Delhi and one from Varanasi. The three lights together ferried a total of 361 rescued travellers back to the country," Air India said in a release.

The airline said it had planned to fly seven flights in all but could not accomplish the target due to paucity of parking bays at Tribhuvan International Airport, which impacted landing of flights and  transportation of relief material.

The airline said it had also operated two flights from Kolkata to Kathmandu but had to return after hovering over Kathmandu skies for more than 90 minutes due to the non-availability of parking bays.

Besides, the state-run airline has also announced a one way, all-inclusive fares of Rs 4,700 for travel from Delhi, Kolkata and Varanasi to Kathmandu apart from transporting relief material free of charge by the registered NGOs to the Himalayan country.

No-frills carrier SpiceJet cut down base fare for its evening flights to Kathmandu to Re 1 for two days starting today, and announced that it will mount two more special planes to help stranded passengers return home at the earliest.

"We plan to operate two additional flights to Kathmandu to help the Indians stranded there. A flight early on Monday morning could not land at the Kathmandu airport and returned to Delhi because of the weather conditions there," SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh said.

SpiceJet has created a special email ID- [e-mail] - for accredited NGOs and relief organizations to contact the airline for free carriage of relief materials, doctors and rescue personnel to Kathmandu.

Mumbai-headquartered full service private carrier Jet Airways said Jet Airways has scheduled two more flights from Delhi to Kathmandu today, subject to availability of landing clearances at Kathmandu airport.

Jet Airways operated one aircraft in evening to Kathmandu from Mumbai but its flight to Tribhuvan International Airport from Delhi had to be diverted to Lucknow, which later returned to the capital due to the shortage of parking bays, its spokesperson said.

"We are trying our level best to ensure that we operate flights in and out of Kathmandu in the current scenario," Jet Airways said.

Since the deadly earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday, Jet Airways has flown nearly 500 people from Kathmandu back to India, its spokesperson said, adding it would offer guests the lowest fares on all fresh bookings for ex-Kathmandu flights up to May 2.

The spokesperson also said that the airline will waive off all cancellation charges on confirmed tickets for travel to and from Kathmandu for any travel date in future.Gurgaon-based IndiGo also operated one flight with rescue and relief from New Delhi to Kathmandu and also the return flight.

".@IndiGo6E flight 6E 32 from Kathmandu to Delhi has landed safely. Thanks once again to the untiring crew and pilots of 6E," IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh tweeted after the flight landed in the national capital.