The company had commenced commercial flights with one 18-seater Dornier aircraft on March 16, 2006.[break]
“We are planning to bring two more 18-seater aircraft,” said Sudeep Basnyat, managing director of Agni Air. “At presently we are conducting a market study targeting to bring Twin Otter or Chinese made Y-12E aircraft,” he told the press.
At present, the company is operating with three 18-seater Dornier and three 29-seater Jetstream planes. It operates flights to Lukla, Jomsom, Khani Danda, Biratnagar, Bhadrapur, Pokhara and Bhairahawa and also mountain flights.
“We are preparing to operate flights to Taplejung as well,” said Basnyat, adding that the company would conduct a test flight as soon as black-topping works at Taplejung airport are completed. “After that we will commence regular flights on Kathmandu-Taplejung route,” he stated.
Highlighting performance of the company Basnyat disclosed that Agni has so far catered to about 725,000 passengers.
“Our motto since the very beginning has been to provide reliable, credible and quality services at affordable rates,” he said.
Pramod Pandey, marketing and administration director of Agni Air said the company presently enjoys market share of about 30 percent and its flights are operating with 85 percent seat occupancy.
In his statement, Pandey raised concerns over consistent rise in the price of aviation fuel and increasing insurance price. “These factors have created challenges for all airline companies as they have swollen the operating cost thus making the services expensive,” he said.
Although Pandey did not discuss much about high aviation fuel price, he noted that the country could save millions of rupees from going outside the country if local insurance companies formed a pool to insure the aviation industry.
In a bid to attract passengers, the company has been providing 33 percent discount for children aged up to 12 year in its flights to major cities. The company has also contributed some half a million rupees to schools and other institutions as a part of its corporate social responsibility.
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