45 Years and Counting: How Old are Planes Flying in Nepal, Really?

Since 1946, Nepal has suffered 42 fatal plane crashes, with eight air disasters killing more than 100 people in the three years between 2022 and 2025 alone. Many of the planes in Nepal have fallen prey to bird strikes as well.  The European Union banned all 20 Nepali airlines from its airspace on December 5, 2013 — a ban that remains fully in force as of the EU Air Safety List update of December 13, 2024. Against such a backdrop, one has to wonder how old planes in Nepal are anyway.

Nepal Airlines Has A 41-Year-Old Twin Otter Flying the Himalayas

Nepal Airlines Corporation (RA)’s international fleet comprises two Airbus A330-200s (9N-ALY Annapurna and 9N-ALZ Makalu) acquired in 2018, and two Airbus A320s (9N-AKW and 9N-AKX) delivered in February and April 2015 respectively. These average roughly 9.5 years in age and represent a creditable modernization drive.

Reg	Aircraft Type	Config	Delivered	Aircraft Name	Age
9N-AKW	Airbus A320-200	C8Y150	Feb 2015	Sagarmatha	11.3 Years
9N-AKX	Airbus A320-200	C8Y150	Apr 2015	Lumbini	11.2 Years
9N-ALY	Airbus A330-200	C18Y256	Jun 2018	Annapurna	8 Years
9N-ALZ	Airbus A330-200	C18Y256	Jul 2018	Makalu	8 Years

Nepal Airlines operates two De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft — registrations 9N-ABT and 9N-ABU — that carry an average age exceeding 41 years. These aircraft are the workhorses of Nepal Airlines’ domestic network. They were manufactured between 1965 and 1988 — and the DHC-6-300 series, specifically, ceased production in 1988.

 The airline’s overall average fleet age, factoring in all types, sits at approximately 20.4 years.

Nepal Airlines also has Yarbin Y12 and Mh-60s it doesn’t know what to do with and are idly sitting.

Buddha Air (U4): ATRs Beyond 50,000 Cycles

Buddha Air (U4), the largest domestic carrier in Nepal by fleet size, operates a mixed fleet of ATR 42 and ATR 72-500 turboprops — 15 aircraft in total, flying more than 160 flights a day across 14 domestic destinations.

Three of Buddha Air’s ATR 42 aircraft are 24 to 28 years old, and each has individually logged more than 50,000 flight cycles Flight cycles. When Buddha Air retired its ATR 42-320 registered 9N-AIN in 2024, the airline marked a genuine aviation milestone: the aircraft had completed the full economic life of 70,000 flight cycles, the first ATR anywhere in the world to do so in commercial passenger service.

The oldest aircraft operated by Buddha Air is an ATR 42 that is registered 9N-AIT. The carrier obtained this aircraft in 2009. Let’s look at the aircraft’s history that was manufactured in Toulouse before it made it to Nepal. All other aircraft in the carrier’s fleet are the ATR 72 types:

Reg	Config	Delivered	Age
9N-AJL	—	May 2021	15.5 Years
9N-AJS	Y70	Aug 2011	28.6 Years
9N-AJX	Y72	Sep 2012	27.2 Years
9N-AMD	Y72	Jan 2017	19.6 Years
9N-AMU	Y72	Jun 2018	18.8 Years
9N-AMY	—	Mar 2019	19 Years
9N-ANH	—	Jan 2021	15.7 Years
9N-ANI	Y68	Sep 2019	18.5 Years
9N-ANP	—	Mar 2022	17.5 Years
9N-ANQ	Y72	May 2023	17.5 Years
9N-ANW	—	Aug 2023	15.8 Years
9N-ANZ	—	Jun 2024	16.3 Years
9N-AOC	Y72	Oct 2023	14.9 Years
9N-AOG	Y68	Dec 2024	16.2 Years

Yeti Airlines (YT) And Tara Air (TA) Operate ATR 72s And Twin Otters

Yeti Airlines (YT) currently operates seven aircraft, all of which are ATR 42 and ATR 72-500 turboprops, following the loss of its ATR 72-500 9N-ANC in the January 15, 2023, crash at Pokhara International Airport (PKR) — Nepal’s deadliest domestic accident in three decades, in which all 72 people on board were killed. The carrier’s active ATR fleet averages approximately 17 years, with the details mentioned by planespotters.net being the following:

Reg	Config	Delivered	Age
9N-ALN	Y70	Sep 2018	18.4 Years
9N-AMM	Y70	Sep 2017	19.1 Years
9N-AMN	Y70	Jul 2017	16.9 Years
9N-AMZ	Y70	Sep 2022	14.5 Years
9N-ANG	Y70	Jul 2019	19.2 Years
9N-AOF	—	Feb 2024	17.5 Years
9N-AOH	—	Feb 2024	17.7 Years

Yeti Airlines’ subsidiary, Tara Air (TA) operates De Havilland Canada DHC-6/300 and DHC-6/400 Twin Otters for these sectors.

Reg	Aircraft Type	Config	Delivered	Age
9N-AEV	De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter	Y19 / Cargo	Nov 2009	45.5 Years
9N-AKL	Viking DHC-6 Twin Otter	Y19 / Cargo	Jul 2015	11.2 Years
9N-ALO	Viking DHC-6 Twin Otter	Y19 / Cargo	Jul 2018	15.5 Years

The Fleet Age Spectrum of Other Carriers in Nepal

Himalaya Airlines (H9)

Himalaya Airlines has the youngest jet fleet of any Nepal-based carrier. The carrier recently started the first Shenzhen services from Kathmandu and in doing so, became the first carrier to do so. The four aircraft of this carrier average 9.2 years.

Reg	Aircraft Type	Config	Delivered	Age
9N-AJK	Airbus A319-100	Y144	Mar 2020	7 Years
9N-ALM	Airbus A320-200	Y180	Nov 2019	11 Years
9N-ALV	Airbus A320-200	Y180	Jan 2017	9.4 Years
9N-ALW	Airbus A320-200	Y180	Mar 2017	9.2 Years

Shree Airlines (N7)

Shree Airlines has a fleet that comprises of Bombardier CRJ-200s and De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400s. The average fleet age of the carrier is 18.4 years.

Reg	Aircraft Type	Config	Delivered	Age
9N-AMA	Bombardier CRJ-200	Y50	May 2017	23.1 Years
9N-AMC	Bombardier CRJ-200	Y50	Apr 2017	24.1 Years
9N-ANE	Bombardier DHC-8-400	Y76	Jul 2019	19.6 Years
9N-ANF	Bombardier DHC-8-400	Y76	Jul 2019	19.5 Years
9N-ANR	Bombardier DHC-8-400	Y76	Dec 2021	16.6 Years
9N-ANS	Bombardier DHC-8-400	Y76	Jan 2022	16.6 Years
9N-AOK	Bombardier DHC-8-400	Y76	Mar 2024	15.5 Years
9N-AOL	Bombardier DHC-8-400	Y76	Mar 2024	15.5 Years
9N-AOM	Bombardier DHC-8-400	Y76	Jun 2024	15.5 Years

Summit Air / Goma Air

Summit is the only carrier in the country that operates a Let L-410 UVP-E20 Turbolet and there’s little public information about the specifics of the aircraft that the carrier operates. Alongside Sita Air and Tara Air, the carrier is one of the three operators to Lukla. The carrier changed its name from Goma after a crash of its Let L-410 in Lukla.