History
The airline was established in July 1958 as Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation with one Douglas DC-3. At the beginning, its services were limited to Simara, Pokhara, Biratnagar and Indian cities such as Patna, Calcutta and Delhi. In 1961 Pilatus Porter STOL aircraft joined the fleet and in 1963 12-seater Chinese Fong Shou-2 Harvester's were brought into service, opening up the Kingdom's more remote routes.
In 1966 a turboprop Fokker F27 was added to the airline's fleet. In 1970 RNAC acquired its first Hawker Siddley HS-748 followed by Twin Otter's in 1971 and Boeing 727's in 1972. Two Boeing 757s gradually replaced the airline's Boeing 727s in 1987.
In 2004 it was reported that the Government of Nepal had decided to sell off 49% of its stake in Nepal Airlines, to the private sector, and hand over management control; whilst retaining a 51% share. This would provide the investment to get the airline out of significant debt.
The former chairman of Nepal Airlines Ramagya Chaturvedi jailed for corruption in February 2005.
In September 2007 the airline confirmed that it had sacrificed two goats to appease a Hindu god—following technical problems with one of its aircraft. Nepal Airlines said the animals were slaughtered in front of the plane, a Boeing 757, at Tribhuvan International Airport. The offering was made to Akash Bhairab, the Hindu god of sky protection, whose symbol is seen on the company's aircraft. The airline said that after Sunday's ceremony the plane successfully completed a flight to Hong Kong. Raju KC, an airline official, was quoted as saying: "The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights". The company did not say what the problem was, but reports in local media had blamed an electrical fault.
In 2009, at the Dubai Airshow, Nepal Airlines signed a Memorandum of understanding with Airbus to acquire one A330-200 and one A320-200. The A330 will be used on flights to Japan and Europe, and the A320 will operate flights to the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
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