BB Airways (BBW, Kathmandu) is "unlikely" to receive a licence to resume international operations from the Nepalese Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry anytime soon due to technical issues with its sole aircraft, The Kathmandu Post has reported. Another dormant carrier Alpine Air (Nepal) (Kathmandu) is trying to launch operations as well.
According to the newspaper's sources at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), it may take upwards of one-and-a-half years for BB Airways to obtain the licence. Its B757-200 9N-ACA (msn 23850), a 30.5-year-old airframe, needs a complete overhaul, including a replacement of both its Rolls-Royce RB211-535E4 engines.
BB Airways owner Bhawan Bhatta acquired the ex-Nepal Airlines aircraft in December 2017 for USD1.46 million. The Boeing twinjet which last flew in October 2016 is currently stored at Kathmandu and unlikely to leave the airport for the next dozen months. BB Airways had previously estimated that returning the aircraft to serviceability would cost an estimated NPR50 million (USD482,000).
The company needs to secure a licence before applying for an air operator's certificate (AOC), however, the Nepalese authorities have recently announced they will only issue new AOCs to airlines which declare their readiness to operate out of the new capital airport at Bhairahawa, whose expansion is due to finish by 2019.
In January, BB Airways revealed plans to restart operations in the late first half of 2018 and to deploy the aircraft out of Kathmandu to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Doha Hamad International, Delhi International, and Malaysia. The airline also intended to add a second aircraft and launch flights to Japan and Korea in the near future.
The Kathmandu Post has also reported that Alpine Air, a company founded in 2009 but never formally launched operationally, filed for a licence for international flights. There is no information available as to the carrier's intended fleet or network plans.
