The airbus A330-200, which has been named Annapurna, touches down at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) from France in Kathmandu, Nepal, on June 28, 2018. Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), the country's national flag carrier, has purchased a wide-body aircraft for the first time. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)
KATHMANDU, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), the country's national flag carrier, has purchased a wide-body aircraft for the first time.
The airbus A330-200, which has been named Annapurna, touched down at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu from France on Thursday morning.
"Airbus 330 has arrived today at TIA, thus this is a joyful moment for all of us. The second wide-body aircraft will arrive after a month," Nepali Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari shared in social media after the landing of the new aircraft.
Last year, the NAC signed a purchase agreement with U.S.-based AAR Corporation for the supply of two airbus planes A320-200 worth 209.6 million U.S. dollars.
The wide body aircraft comprises a two-class cabin configuration while has the seat capacity of 274 passengers including 18 in business class and 256 in economy class.
The first ever acquisition of wide-body aircraft is expected to help the national flag carrier to increase its market share among other international airlines.
The NAC has planned to conduct flights to Doha and Dubai in the first phase while it plans to operate flights to destinations such as South Korea, Japan and Australia in the second phase.
According to NAC, the commercial flights will start from Aug. 1.
Currently, NAC has been conducting international flights with its one Boeing 757-200 and two narrow-body Airbus 320-200.
