Kathmandu- Nepal Airlines has stated on his website that TIA has ‘duty-free shopping facilities available upon arrival and departure’. However, Er. Dipendra Kandel has discovered that this not the case, and that TIA has duty free shopping facilities at departures only.

In a year, in which the Nepali Government has tried to promote Nepal 2020, Nepal’s attempt to encourage at least two-million tourists to come to the country in 2020, such fraudulent statements only create a bad image for Nepal. Moreover, such statements also negatively impact Nepal’s aviation industry as well as its international reputation. This is as tourists, who might want to shop on arrival for important items, will have been misguided by the statement on Nepal Airlines’ website.

Er. Kandel, who recently held a press conference on the issue, is extremely disappointed by these misleading statements which only create more negative publicity for Nepal’s civil aviation both domestically and internationally. Subsequently, one must question whether such false statements from Nepal Airlines, which mislead international tourists, is one of the airlines’ real methods to ‘promote’ Nepal’s aviation industry.

Er. Kandel, who has been working against the corruption of Nepal Airlines and their purchasing of two wide-body aircraft from Airbus, now demands that the CEO of Nepal Airlines, Madan Kharel is removed from his post by Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai. He also requests that Nepal Airlines removes this false statement from its website at once.

This is until TIA has built a duty-free shop in its arrivals. If these actions have not been conducted, Er. Kandel will take further action and take Nepal Airlines to the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Duty-free facilities in both departures and arrivals are an essential part of any international airport which genuinely wants to be the best in the world. It is unacceptable that TIA does not have one, and it is even worse that Nepal Airlines feels the need to lie about having one. This is yet another disappointing moment in Nepal’s civil aviation history.

We are sure that the Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister will comment appropriately on the matter.