Tara Air Pvt. Ltd. is an airline headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.[3] It is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines. Tara Air was formed in 2009 using aircraft from the Yeti Airlines fleet and is based at Tribhuvan International Airport, with a secondary hub at Nepalgunj Airport. The airline operates scheduled flights and air charter services with a fleet of STOL aircraft, previously provided by Yeti Airlines. Its operations focus on serving remote and mountainous airports and airstrips.[4] Tara's fleet is made up of Dornier 228, DHC-6 and PC-6.[5][better source needed][better source needed] Tara Air has been considered one of the "most unsafe airlines" due to several significant incidents.[5][better source needed]
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Founded | 2009; 13 years ago (2009) | ||||||
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Hubs | Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu | ||||||
Secondary hubs | Nepalgunj Airport, Pokhara Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 7 | ||||||
Destinations | 15 | ||||||
Parent company | Yeti Airlines | ||||||
Headquarters | Kathmandu, Nepal | ||||||
Key people | Ang Tshering Sherpa (Founder) | ||||||
Website | www |
Tara Air was formed in 2009 when Yeti Airlines split its STOL aircraft operations from its regional operations.[6] The airline's STOL operations were rebranded as Tara Air and focused on providing services into remote and mountainous airports and airstrips.[7]
The airline operates scheduled domestic flights to a number of destinations as well as offering air charter services. Tara Air operates daily scheduled flights between Kathmandu and Lukla, and between Jomsom and Pokhara. Other destinations are served at varying frequency.[2]
Destination | Airport | Notes | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|
Kathmandu | Tribhuvan International Airport | Hub | |
Nepalgunj | Nepalgunj Airport | Focus city | |
Pokhara | Pokhara Airport | Focus city | |
Bajhang | Bajhang Airport | Terminated | [8] |
Bajura | Bajura Airport | ||
Bhojpur | Bhojpur Airport | [9] | |
Birendranagar | Surkhet Airport | Terminated | [8] |
Bowang | Dhorpatan Airport | Terminated | [8] |
Diktel | Khanidanda Airport | ||
Dolpa | Dolpa Airport | ||
Jiri | Jiri Airport | Terminated | [8] |
Jomsom | Jomsom Airport | ||
Jumla | Jumla Airport | ||
Lukla | Tenzing-Hillary Airport | ||
Lamidanda | Lamidanda Airport | ||
Langtang | Langtang Airport | Terminated | [8] |
Manang | Manang Airport | Terminated | |
Manthali | Ramechhap Airport | [10] | |
Phaplu | Phaplu Airport | ||
Rara | Talcha Airport | ||
Rumjatar | Rumjatar Airport | ||
Rukum | Rukumkot Airport | Terminated | [8] |
Rukum | Rukum Salle Airport | Terminated | [8] |
Sanphebagar | Sanphebagar Airport | Terminated | |
Simikot | Simikot Airport | ||
Syangboche | Syangboche Airport | Terminated | |
Tara Air has a codeshare agreement with its mother company Yeti Airlines.[11]
Tara Air's fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of June 2022):[12]
Aircraft | In Fleet | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Y | Total | ||||
Dornier 228 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 19 | ||
de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter | 2 | 0 | 19 | 19 | Originally 3 DHC-6-300 planes were delivered, one DHC-6-300 crashed on May 29th 2022 (Tara Air Flight 197) | |
Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter | 1 | 0 | 18 | 18 | Two originally delivered. One crashed on February 24, 2016 (Tara Air Flight 193)[13] | |
Pilatus PC-6 Porter[14] | 2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | Seasonally operated[citation needed] | |
Total | 7 | 0 |
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Current | |
Start-up | |
Defunct |