Sita Air is an

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 ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, operating domestic services within Nepal. It was established in 2003. The airline's main base is

Tribhuvan International Airport Tribhuvan International Airport (, , colloquially referred to as TIA) is an international airport located in Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal. It has a tabletop runway, a domestic terminal and an international terminal. As the country's main internat ...

with hubs at

Pokhara Airport Pokhara Airport (, ) (in official use by CAAN "Pokhara (VNPK)") is a domestic airport serving Pokhara in Nepal. Pokhara Airport is supposed to be gradually replaced by Nepal's third international airport, Pokhara International Airport, sin ...

and

Nepalgunj Airport Nepalgunj Airport is a domestic airport serving Nepalgunj, in Banke District, a district in Lumbini Province in Nepal. There are plans by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to promote the airport to an international airport and establishing ...

. it is banned from flying in the EU.

History

The airline received its air operators certificate in 2000, and was established in October 2000, but was unable to operate until 2003 due to political unrest in Nepal.

Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...

12–18 April 2005 Operations started on 6 February 2003 with a single

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. 245 were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics ...

; a second aircraft was added in April 2003. In August 2014, 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 ...

barred the airline from carrying passengers due to safety concerns and failing to meet international standards. The airline was allowed to continue operating cargo flights. However, by 2016, the airline was allowed to operate passenger services again. In 2016, the airline was sold to

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a List of cities in Nepal, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Koshi Province. With a Metropolitan Urban Agglomeration population of 244,750 as per the 2021 Nepal census, 2021 census, it is the largest c ...

-based Agrawal Group for NPRs 550,000,000. In 2017, Sita Air bought two more Dornier 228 aircraft from Simrik Airlines.

Destinations

Sita Air currently operates services to the following domestic destinations (as of May 2019):

Fleet

The Sita Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of May 2019):

Accidents and incidents

* On 30 September 2004, a Sita Air

crashlanded at

Lukla Airport Tenzing-Hillary Airport (, ), also known as Lukla Airport, is a domestic airport and altiport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu Pasanglhamu, Solukhumbu District, Koshi Province of Nepal. The airport has gained worldwide fame, both for its unusua ...

, causing the airport to be closed for several days. * On 12 October 2010, a Sita Air

hit a wall beside the runway in Lukla Airport as its brake system did not work properly. The engine inlet of the aircraft was damaged heavily. The aircraft was attempting to land at Lukla airport. It was lifted by helicopter to Kathmandu for repairs and put back to service. This same aircraft went on to have another crash landing accident on Simkot Airport in 2013. * On 28 September 2012, Sita Air Flight 601, a

crashed just after takeoff from

. All 16 passengers and three crew on board were killed. The flight was bound for Lukla. An investigation into the crash concluded that it was caused by passenger and cargo payload that exceeded the aircraft's maximum takeoff weight. * On 1 June 2013, a Sita Air

sustained substantial damage upon landing accident at Simikot Airport. There were no injuries among the five passengers and two crew members. The left hand main landing gear broke and the Dornier 228 came to rest on the side of the runway. The no. 1 propeller, left wing and underside of the fuselage sustained substantial damage. The aircraft had to be airlifted to Kathmandu by a helicopter. * On 23 April 2017, Sita Air Flight 617, a

met a minor incident at Phaplu Airport. The wing tip of theaircraft of was damaged as the aircraft hit the wall on the apron at Phaplu Airport. * On 20 February 2018, Sita Air Flight 601, a

was forced to make an emergency diversion after the aircraft experienced abnormal pressure reading on the engine during the flight to Lukla from Kathmandu which forced the flight crew to carry out the precautionary engine shutdown procedure, shutting down the right engine.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Airlines of Nepal Airlines banned in the European Union Airlines of Nepal Airlines established in 2003 2000 establishments in Nepal