Necon Air was a Nepalese

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

based in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

. The airline was Nepal's first private airline company and was established on 14 September 1992 with one

Hawker Siddeley HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (formerly Avro HS 748) is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorptio ...

aircraft. The airline indefinitely suspended flights in 2003 due to financial difficulties and was delisted from the

Nepal Stock Exchange The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) is the only stock exchange of Nepal. the Market Capitalization of the companies listed on NEPSE totaled . NEPSE opened its trading floor on 13 January 1994. The basic objective of NEPSE is to impart free mark ...

in 2006.

History

Necon Air was established as Nepal's first private airline company in 1992. In 2001, the airline partly merged with two other local airlines,

Shangri-La Air Shangri-La Air was an airline based in Nepal. It partly merged with Necon Air in 2001 and eventually ceased operations in 2008. History The airline started operations in October 1999 with oneDe Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft. Its n ...

and

Karnali Air Karnali Air Pvt. Ltd. was a helicopter airline based at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, operating chartered helicopter services. It merged with Necon Air in 2001 but kept operating under its name. History In 2001 Karnali ...

. As a part of this, Necon Air took over Shangri-La Air's fleet of two Beechcraft 1900Ds. Plans were announced to add two medium size

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

aircraft by September 2002 and extending the network to new regional destinations in South Asia and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The Executive Chairman of Karnali Air,

Narayan Singh Pun Narayan Singh Pun (; died February 21, 2008, in New Delhi, India) was a Nepalese politician. Prior to starting his political career, he had been a helicopter pilot and lieutenant colonel in the Royal Nepal Army. He was elected to the Pratinid ...

took on the position of Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Necon Air. Necon Air indefinitely suspended flights in 2003 due to financial difficulties. Along with debt to private commercial banks, the airline also owed NPRs 20 million to the

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN, ) is an independent civil aviation regulator. It was established as a Nepali government body in 1998 and is headquartered in Kathmandu. Before its formation, the functions of the CAAN had been perform ...

for landing and ground charges and NPRs. 20 million to the Nepal Oil Corporation for fuel. The airline was also in dispute with

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

over leasing and financial arrangements for their

Beechcraft 1900 The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...

aircraft and Raytheon were seeking the grounding of the aircraft.

Destinations

Necon Air regularly served the following destinations, which were cancelled either at the closure of operations or before:Nepal Hiking
retrieved 18 November 2007

Fleet

Necon Air operated the following aircraft throughout its history:

Accidents and incidents

*On 6 November 1997, a Necon Air Avro 748-100 had a hydraulic failure after landing in Pokhara Airport on a flight from Kathmandu Airport. The pilot attempted to steer the plane, but it hit another stationary

. There were no fatalities among the four crew member and 44 passengers. *On 18 January 1999, a Necon Air Cessna 208 Caravan I crashed upon departure in

Jumla Airport Jumla Airport is a domestic airport located in Jumla serving Jumla District, a district in Karnali Province in Nepal. Facilities The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one asphalt paved runway designated 09/27 wh ...

killing four out of the 12 passengers and crew. *5 September 1999 - Necon Air Flight 128 from Pokhara Airport to Kathmandu Airport crashed when it hit a telecommunications tower. All 10 passengers and 5 crew were killed.

References

{{Airlines of Nepal Defunct airlines of Nepal Airlines established in 1992 Airlines disestablished in 2003 1992 establishments in Nepal 2003 disestablishments in Nepal