Civil Aviation

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) requires all helicopter flights during the 2026 monsoon to operate with two pilots, except stretcher medical evacuation flights. The only exception made to this rule was when the rescue operations that followed after floods hit the Rasuwa district of the nation. The two-pilot requirement is part of a…

The scale of helicopter deployment during the recent flood in Nepal was staggering to say the least. The very day after the flood saw Nepal Army rescuing 97 people, . This included three airlifts from the Mailung tunnel and 14 from Timure, a place where floodwaters had swept away the local helipad. Among the helicopters…

By now, we are all versed with the basics of Lukla Airport (LUA): the runway slope as an aircraft leaving this most-dangerous airport seems to approach a gully, a tricky approach to land the aircraft just in time to avoid crashing into a wall, its frequently changing weather, no go-around after crossing a certain point…

Nepal’s airlines have stepped forward with cash, free cargo flights, and a helicopter to help the country recover from the Bhote Koshi flood in Rasuwa district. Nepal Airlines Corporation (RA), the flag carrier of Nepal, deducted money from every employee’s salary to hand over more than NPR 9.8 million to the government’s relief fund, according…

I first flew to Lukla Airport (LUA) on a rather unassuming day during the second flush of Covid restrictions in Nepal. There were conflagrations around the nation that had disrupted schools and canceled flights, and if you walked without a mask, your phlegm was bound to be befouled. I was heading out as a teacher…

On the morning of August 26, 2026, a flash flood tore down the Bhote Koshi gorge on Nepal’s border with Tibet, killing at least 1,280 people and leaving thousands more missing. The Airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) confirmed in a press release that its member helicopter companies had joined search and rescue operations within…

Himalaya Airlines (H9) is a Nepal-China joint venture airline that was established in August 2014 and began scheduled flights on May 31, 2016, with a single Airbus A320 flying between Kathmandu and Doha. The carrier is the first to offer services between Nepal’s capital city and Shenzhen. Unlike Nepal Airlines, the country’s much older flag…

Airbus has completed a Ground Vibration Test (GVT) on its A350F freighter, moving the aircraft a step closer to its first flight. The three-day test took place in Toulouse (TLS), France, in June 2026. Engineers shook the aircraft with external shakers and its own flight controls to measure how it responds to vibration, a step…

Nepal Airlines Corporation (RA) operates six active aircraft across three types, and the spread between the oldest and youngest is stark even by the standards of a small state carrier: a pair of De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters that have been flying Nepal’s mountain routes for more than four decades, alongside four Airbus jets…