Necon Air
| |||||||
| Founded | September 14, 1992 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 2003 | ||||||
| Destinations | See Services below | ||||||
| Headquarters | Nepal | ||||||
Necon Air was an airline based in Nepal. The airline was Nepal's first private airline company and was established on September 14, 1992 with Hawker Siddeley HS 748 AVRO. Plans were announced to add two medium size Boeing or Airbus aircraft by September 2002. Necon Air indefinitely suspended flights in 2003 due to financial difficiculty.
History
The airline as Nepal's first private airline company and was established in 1992.[2] In 2001 the airline had an ‘operational merge’ with two other local airlines - Shangri-La Air and Karnali Air. Plans were announced to add two medium size Boeing or Airbus aircraft by September 2002 extending to new regional destinations in South Asia and China.[3] The Executive Chairman of Karnali Air, Captain Narayan Singh Pun took on the position of Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Necon Air.[4]
Necon Air indefinitely suspended flights in 2003 due to financial difficulties. Along with debt to private commercial banks, the airline also owes Rs.20 million to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal for landing and ground charges and Rs.20 million to the Nepal Oil Corporation for fuel.[5] The airline was also in dispute with Raytheon over leasing and financial arrangements for their Beech 1900 aircraft and Raytheon were seeking the grounding of the aircraft.[6]
Services
Necon Air operated flights to Pokhara, Bhadrapur, Biratnagar, Bhadrapur, Simara, Bhairawa, Janakpur and Nepalgunj, and Patna and Varanasi in India.[2]
Passenger numbers
Necon Air passenger numbers [4]
| 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 |
| 167,733 | 241,929 | 291,187 | 307,746 | 262,757 |
Accidents and incidents
- 6 November 1997 - A Necon Air Avro 748-100 (9N-ACM), after a flight from Kathmandu, suffered a hydraulic system failure after landing at Pokhara Airport and ran off the runway. The pilot steered the plane back on the runway after 100m, but it ran onto the ramp and struck another Avro 748 (9N-ACW) of Nepal Airways), which was parked engineless. There were no fatalities among the 44 passengers and 4 crew.[7]
- 18 January 1999 - Necon Air Cessna 208 Caravan I (9N-ADA) climbed steeply to 450 feet (140 m) after takeoff from Jumla Airport, but stalled and crashed and caught fire. The fire could not be extinguished because fire fighting equipment was not available at the airport. Of 10 passengers and 2 crew, 4 passengers and 1 crew member were killed. The probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to put the aircraft in take off configuration.[8]
- 5 September 1999 - Necon Air Flight 128 from Pokhara to Kathmandu, an BAe 748-501 Super 2B (9N-AEG), collided with a communication tower of Nepal Telecommunication Corporation and crashed in a wooded area 25 km west of Kathmandu, while approaching Tribhuvan International Airport. All 10 passengers and 5 crew were killed.[9]
Fleet
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References
- ^ Airline Codes retrieved 18 November 2006
- ^ a b Nepal Trailblazer retrieved 18 November 2006
- ^ Nepalnews.com October 2001
- ^ a b New Business Age October 2001
- ^ Nepalneews.com 5 June 2003
- ^ Kathmandu Post 22 April 2003
- ^ Aviation Safety Network retrieved 18 November 2006
- ^ Aviation Safety Network retrieved 18 November 2006
- ^ Aviation Safety Network retrieved 18 November 2006