The first plane of the Nepal-China joint venture will arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb 10. There will be direct flights from Kathmandu, Nepal, to Kuala Lumber five days a week.

With the entry of Himalaya Airlines, the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur route will be served directly by five carriers. AirAsia X, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air and Nepal Airlines currently have direct flights.

According to a report in The Kathmandu Post, the price of a round-trip ticket on the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur flight starts at Rs25,375 (RM1,035).

The company has appointed Carnival Travel as its general sales agent in Malaysia. It operates the Airbus 320.

The airline hopes to attract some of the 450,000 Nepali workers in Malaysia to use its services, apart from Malaysian tourists.

Himalaya Airlines’ first flights were to Doha last May and to Colombo last October. It plans to fly to Yangon in Myanmar from Feb 24, twice weekly.

Vijay Shrestha, vice-president (administration) of Himalaya Airlines, was quoted by The Kathmandu Post as saying: “The launch of new destinations is part of Himalaya’s commitment to connect Nepal directly with Asia Pacific countries and boost tourism as well as trade opportunities.”

Himalaya received its first Airbus A320 in March last year, and another one will be joining the fleet by January-end, according to the report. The new Airbus with Nepal callsign 9N-ALV has 158 seats including eight in business class.

The airline plans to add two more aircraft by the end of this year. The company, which plans to link various Asian and Middle Eastern cities initially, expects to acquire 15 Airbus aircraft, including long-haul A330 wide body jets, to expand operations to Japan, Korea, Europe, Australia and America in the next five years, says the Kathmandu Post report.