Gorkha Airlines is an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based in Kathmandu, Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

. It operates scheduled and charter flights to domestic destinations, as well as daily mountain flights in the Himalayas

Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

. Its main base is Tribhuvan International Airport

Tribhuvan International Airport

Tribhuvan International Airport is an international airport situated in Kathmandu, Nepal.Tribhuvan is the sole international airport in Nepal. There are two terminals, one domestic and one international...

, Kathmandu.

History

The airline was established in 1996 and started operations on 8 July 1996. It began operations with two Mi-17

MI-17

MI-17 can refer to:* Mil Mi-17, Soviet helicopter*M-17...

 helicopters and moved on to scheduled flights using fixed-wing aircraft.

Destinations

Gorkha Airlines operates scheduled flights to the following domestic destinations (as of June 2010):

Location served	IATA IATA airport code An IATA airport code, also known an IATA location identifier, IATA station code or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter code designating many airports around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association...	Airport name	Destinations
Bhairahawa	BWA	Gautam Buddha Airport Gautam Buddha Airport Gautam Buddha Airport , also known as Bhairahawa Airport, is an airport serving Bhairahawa , a municipality of the Rupandehi district in the Lumbini zone in Nepal. Rabin Sharma served as the chief of the airport until 2008.-Facilities:...	Kathmandu
Bharatpur Bharatpur, Nepal Bharatpur is a city in the central-southern part of Nepal. Located in Chitwan Valley, Bharatpur is the district headquarters of the Chitwan District, as well as a separate Municipal authority, and is the seventh largest city of Nepal with the population of 89,323 . The estimated population for...	BHR	Bharatpur Airport Bharatpur Airport Bharatpur Airport is an airport serving Bharatpur, a city in the Chitwan district in Narayani zone in Nepal.The airport is located southwest of Bharatpu. It is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and is served by Nepal Airlines, the national airline which earns most of its revenue...	Kathmandu
Biratnagar	BIR	Biratnagar Airport Biratnagar Airport Biratnagar Airport is an airport serving Biratnagar, a city of the Morang district in the Kosi zone in Nepal.-Facilities:Nepal government owned and operated, Biratnagar Airport began its service on 6 July 1958, the same year the nation's first Royal Nepal Airlines began its scheduled domestic and...	Tumlingtar
Janakpur	JKR	Janakpur Airport Janakpur Airport Janakpur Airport is an airport serving Janakpur, a city in and the administrative headquarters of the Dhanusa District in the Janakpur Zone in Nepal.-Facilities:...	Kathmandu
Jomsom Jomsom Jomsom , also known as Dzongsam or New Fort, is a town located at an altitude of 2800m in Mustang, Nepal. It extends over both the banks of the Kali Gandaki River. Along the banks of Kali Gandaki river there are rocks holy to the Hindus. The soaring peaks of Dhaulagiri and Nilgiri form a backdrop...	JMO	Jomsom Airport Jomsom Airport Jomsom Airport is an airport serving Jomsom, a town in the Mustang District of the Dhawalagiri Zone in Nepal. It is known as one of the world's most dangerous airfields and is a particular favourite of flight simulator fans.-Facilities:...	Pokhara
Kathmandu	KTM	Tribhuvan International Airport Tribhuvan International Airport Tribhuvan International Airport is an international airport situated in Kathmandu, Nepal.Tribhuvan is the sole international airport in Nepal. There are two terminals, one domestic and one international...	Bhairahawa, Bharatpur, Janakpur, Lukla, Pokhara, Simara, Tumlingtar
Lukla Lukla Lukla is a town in the Khumbu area of the Solukhumbu District in the Sagarmatha Zone of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at , it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Everest to arrive...	LUA	Tenzing-Hillary Airport	Kathmandu
Pokhara Pokhara Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City is the second largest city of Nepal. Pokhara is city of close to 350,000 inhabitants in central Nepal located at 28.25°N, 83.99°E, which is the centre of the country from east to west or from north to south, 198 km west of Kathmandu or 90 km west of Mugling, and...	PKR	Pokhara Airport Pokhara Airport Pokhara Airport , is a regional airport serving Pokhara in Nepal. The airport was established July 4, 1958 and is operated by the government . It offers regular connections to Kathmandu, Jomsom and seasonal connections to Manang...	Jomsom, Kathmandu
Simara Simara, Nepal Simara is a village development committee in Sarlahi District in the Janakpur Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 5971 people living in 1051 individual households.-External links:*...	SIF	Simara Airport Simara Airport Simara Airport is an airport serving Pipara Simara in Nepal. The airport was established July 4, 1958 and is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.-Airlines and destinations:...	Kathmandu
Tumlingtar Tumlingtar Tumlingtar is a region and a city, in Eastern Nepal, between Arun river and Sabha River in Kosi Zone. It is also the deepest valley and biggest Tar of Nepal. It is situated at 27.30 N, 87.20 E.-Demographics:...	TMI	Tumlingtar Airport Tumlingtar Airport Tumlingtar Airport , also known as Tumling Tar Airport, is an airport serving Tumlingtar, a city in Nepal.-Facilities:The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway which is in length.-Airlines and destinations:...	Biratnagar, Kathmandu

Fleet

The Gorkha Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2007):

• 2 Dornier 228-212
  Dornier Do 228
  The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier GmbH from 1981 until 1998. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics bought a production licence and manufactures the 228 for the Asian market sphere. Approximately 270 Do 228 were built at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and...
  
  

Incidents and accidents

On 30 June 2005, a Dornier Do 228

Dornier Do 228

The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, manufactured by Dornier GmbH from 1981 until 1998. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics bought a production licence and manufactures the 228 for the Asian market sphere. Approximately 270 Do 228 were built at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and...

 (9N-AEO) aircraft skidded off the runway while attempting to land at Lukla Airport

Lukla Airport

-Incidents and accidents:*On 15 October 1973, on landing at the airport, a Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 Twin Otter 300, registration 9N-ABG, was damaged beyond repair...

after a flight from Kathmandu. There were only minor injuries to the nine passengers and three crew members. After the accident, the aircraft was reportedly withdrawn from use and written off.

External links