Saurya Airlines

Saurya Airlines Pvt. Ltd (Nepali: सौर्य एयरलाईन्स) is an airline based in Kathmandu, Nepal. As of August 2017, the airline serves five destinations across three provinces of Nepal from its hub at Tribhuvan International Airport. Saurya Airlines operates a fleet of CRJ 200 aircraft. Saurya Airlines was the first airline to introduce Canadair Regional Jet in Nepal, also becoming the second airline in Nepal after Cosmic Air to operate a jet engine aircraft on the domestic routes.

Saurya Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
S1 SAU SAURYA AIR
Founded2014 (2014)
Commenced operations17 November 2014 (2014-11-17)
AOC #083/2014[1]
HubsTribhuvan International Airport
Frequent-flyer programSaurya Saarathi[2]
Fleet size2
Destinations6
HeadquartersSinamangal, Kathmandu, Nepal
Key people
  • Dipak Pokharel (Chairman)[3]
  • Narayan Agrawal (Vice Chairman)[4]
Websitewww.sauryaairlines.com
Saurya Airlines CRJ200 '9N-ALE' at Kathmandu Airport in 2016

History

Saurya Airlines brought its first aircraft "9N-ALE", a CRJ 200 on 18 August 2014. The airline commenced its first operation on 17 November 2014 by conducting a mountain flight and a round trip to Biratnagar Airport after it was forced to keep its new plane grounded for nearly three months due to lengthy paperwork.[5] The company later added a daily service to Chandragadhi Airport making its second southeastern destination. On 22 June 2015, Saurya Airlines launched one daily flight to Nepalgunj Airport.

On the beginning of 2016, Saurya Airlines was constrained to operate charter flights as per the regulations of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal after the company failed to meet the minimum required number of aircraft needed to operate as a scheduled passenger carrier.[6] However, the company managed to provide the service to the passengers by operating scheduled charter flights. In 2016, Saurya Airlines served 90,205 passengers with the growth rate of 3.76 percent from the previous year.[7]

In March 2017, Saurya Airlines added second CRJ 200 aircraft, "9N-AME" on its fleet, and regained the certificate to operate the scheduled flights again. The "9N-AME" aircraft was painted with "Tata Tiago livery" as per the agreement with Sipradi Trading, making the airline-first Nepalese fixed-wing aircraft company to wear the international trademark on aircraft livery.[8]

In 2018, the airline was grounded by Tribhuvan International Airport, as it owed Nepali rupees 30 million in service charges to the airport.[9] In March 2019, the airline cleared its dues and restarted its flight operations.[10]

Also in 2018, the airline was sold to a group of Non Resident Nepalis for 320 million Nepali rupees.[11] However, in 2019, the ownership changed again, when the Indian Kuber Group acquired the airline for 630 million Nepali rupees.[12]

Fleet
Saurya Airlines CRJ200 (9N-AME) in the Tata Tiago livery at Siddharthanagar Airport in 2017

The Saurya Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2019):[13]

Saurya Airlines fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes
Y Total
Bombardier CRJ200LR/ER 3[14][15] 0 50 50
Total 3

Destinations

Saurya Airlines serves to these destinations as of March 2019:

City Airport Notes
BhadrapurChandragadhi Airport—
BiratnagarBiratnagar Airport—
DhangadhiDhangadhi Airport—
KathmanduTribhuvan International AirportHub
NepalgunjNepalgunj Airport—
SiddharthanagarGautam Buddha Airport—
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References
  1. "Civil Aviation Report 2017" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  2. "SAURYA SAARATHI". Saurya Airlines. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  3. "Chairman's Message". Saurya Airlines. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  4. "Vice Chairman's Message". Saurya Airlines. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  5. "Saurya adds another CRJ-200 to its fleet". The Kathmandu Post. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  6. "Nepal's Saurya Airlines downgraded to charter operator". ch aviation. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  7. "2016; Prosperous year for Domestic airlines in Nepal". Aviation Nepal. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. "Saurya Airlines becomes the first Fixed wing Company to nab the international trademark on its livery". Aviation Nepal. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  9. "Saurya Airlines all Flights cancelled". Aviation Nepal. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  10. "Nepal's Saurya Airlines back in the air". HMG Aerospace. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  11. "Saurya airlines transfers ownership in 320 million". Tourismmail. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  12. "Kuber Group acquires 100% stake in Saurya Airlines". Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  13. "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2019): 21.
  14. https://www.aviationnepal.com/addition-of-another-crj200-in-its-fleet-saurya-airlines/
  15. "Magnificent Bombardier CRJ-200 finally landed for Saurya Airlines". Aviation Nepal. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
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