Kathmandu: Competition in Nepal’s international air travel market is heating up, particularly between the country’s two homegrown international operators, Himalaya Airlines and Nepal Airlines.
While the privately owned Himalaya Airlines operated slightly more flights over the past year, the state-owned Nepal Airlines carried significantly more passengers, highlighting a difference in aircraft capacity and route structure rather than flight frequency alone.
In 2025, Himalaya Airlines operated 3,542 international flights, serving 474,987 passengers in total. Nepal Airlines, despite flying slightly fewer flights at 3,517, transported a much higher 606,333 passengers, according to data from Tribhuvan International Airport under the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
Flight movement data show Himalaya conducted 1,771 departures and the same number of arrivals, bringing 238,450 passengers into Nepal and flying 221,592 out. Nepal Airlines, meanwhile, carried 316,342 inbound passengers on 1,759 flights and flew 288,905 outbound on 1,758 flights.
Nepal Airlines’ passenger services and flight operations generated an estimated Rs 16 billion in revenue over the past year, with average earnings of roughly Rs 26,500 per passenger. In the previous fiscal year, the carrier served 575,569 passengers and earned about Rs 15.28 billion. Based on its 2025 passenger numbers, its annual revenue is estimated at around Rs 16.09 billion. However, this marked a slight decline compared to fiscal year 2023/24, when the airline carried 614,787 passengers and generated about Rs 15.43 billion.
Both airlines operate fleets of four aircraft each, but the composition differs. Nepal Airlines flies two wide-body and two narrow-body jets, while all four of Himalaya Airlines’ aircraft are narrow-body. The larger capacity of Nepal Airlines’ wide-body aircraft helps explain why it carries more passengers on a similar number of flights. Revenue differences are also influenced by Nepal Airlines’ long-haul route to Tokyo Narita, where higher fares on long-distance sectors boost average earnings beyond those of Himalaya.
Among all international carriers operating in Nepal, India’s Air India recorded the highest number of flights in 2025, with 3,695 services that carried 499,743 passengers. There is a notable rivalry between Air India and Nepal Airlines: Nepal Airlines transported more passengers despite operating fewer flights, while Air India flew more often but carried nearly 100,000 fewer passengers.
Qatar Airways also maintained a strong presence, operating 1,798 flights and serving 446,000 passengers, split almost evenly between arrivals and departures.
Indian carriers dominate Nepal’s international aviation landscape. Airlines such as Air India, IndiGo, Air India Express, and SpiceJet collectively carried around one million passengers to and from Nepal in 2025. Out of Nepal’s total international passenger market of about 5.05 million travellers, Nepali airlines accounted for roughly 1.097 million passengers, with the remaining more than 3.9 million relying on foreign carriers. In other words, foreign airlines transported about four times as many passengers as Nepal’s own carriers.
Data also show Indian airlines carried 521,236 passengers out of Nepal and brought 491,710 passengers in from India over the past year, underscoring their deep footprint in the country’s air travel market.
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