Why is the air ticket to and from Nepal more expensive than elsewhere?

Why is the air ticket to and from Nepal more expensive than elsewhere?

Businessmen and aviation officials have said that because the price of aviation fuel in Nepal has been higher than in other Asian markets for years, international flight tickets to and from here are more expensive.

Nepal Oil Corporation has said that since the issue of air flight is not so much associated with the householders, they have an old strategy of doing business while being profitable.

But there are concerns that its impact is on tourism, which is significantly and directly connected to Nepal's economy.

Earlier, even a government committee formed during the preparations for the Year of Visit Nepal scheduled for 2020 pointed out that such high prices are affecting the country's tourism sector.

How expensive is jet fuel?

Last June, when the tourism sector started shrinking after the Covid epidemic, the association of domestic airline companies asked the corporation to keep the profit on air fuel within 10 rupees.

But according to the statement of the corporation in mid-October, the profit of the corporation on domestic aviation fuel was about 31 rupees per liter and on the foreign side it was about 74 rupees per liter.

Although the ratio is slightly lower, it seems that the corporation has been following the trend of such easy advantage in aviation fuel for a long time.

Explaining the reason for that, Oil Corporation spokesperson Vineetmani Upadhyay says, "We are clear from the beginning that we will make some profit in aviation fuel, we will not trade at a loss."

But he insists that fuel prices are not the only reason behind high air fares.

the main aspect

Airlines say 35 to 40 percent of flight operations are fueled.

In order to increase the confidence of the local tourism sector and to make the sector dependent on tourism sustainable, it is the opinion of the stakeholders that the advantage of the price of aviation fuel should be reduced.

Recently, the price of all kinds of fuel has increased all over the world.

But at one time before the epidemic, the price of aviation fuel in India was found to be almost half that of Nepal.

Jagannath Niraula, the spokesperson of the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, narrates an example of the pressure it has put on foreign airline companies by connecting it to planes that are 'diverted' because they are unable to land from Kathmandu.

"Ships that cannot land in Kathmandu can go to Bhairahawa. But they prefer to land in Indian cities because aviation fuel is much cheaper there than in Nepal," says Niraula.

"Each party should look at this issue in an integrated way without looking at their own interests. If there is a situation where more tourists come, it will benefit the Nepali market as well."

Impact on tourism

They say that the common complaint made by foreign customers to Nepali tourism professionals is that they have to pay for expensive air tickets to and from Nepal.

It is said that their complaint is that it is difficult to buy air tickets in Nepal due to the money coming from tour packages to other competitive destinations.

"On top of that, some of the international airlines that have stopped coming to Nepal due to the Covid epidemic have not yet started flights, and the tickets to Nepal, which are expensive, have become more expensive," says Ramesh Thapa, president of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents.

"Because of that, the competition between the airline companies has also decreased. Due to the lack of service according to the high demand, the rate of ticket prices has increased."

Although nearly three dozen airlines have received permission to connect Nepal with the international market, only 26 airlines are operating flights since the Covid epidemic.