Saurya Airlines

Saurya Airlines Pvt. Ltd (Nepali: सौर्य एयरलाईन्स) is an airline based in Kathmandu, Nepal. As of August 2017, the airline serves five destinations across three provinces of Nepal from its hub at Tribhuvan International Airport. Saurya Airlines operates a fleet of Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft. Saurya Airlines was the first airline to operate the Canadair Regional Jet in Nepal, also becoming the second airline in Nepal after Cosmic Air to operate a jet engine aircraft on the domestic routes.

Saurya Airlines

IATA ICAO Call sign S1 SAU Saurya Airlines
Founded	2014; 11 years ago (2014)
Commenced operations	17 November 2014; 10 years ago (2014-11-17)
AOC #	083/2014[1]
Hubs	Tribhuvan Airport, Kathmandu
Focus cities	Biratnagar, Bhadrapur
Frequent-flyer program	Saurya Saarathi[2]
Fleet size	1 (after 24 July 2024 plane crash)
Destinations	2
Headquarters	Kathmandu, Nepal
Key people	Dipak Pokharel (Chairman)[3]

Saurya Airlines CRJ-200 registered as 9N-ALE landing at Tribhuvan International Airport

History

Saurya Airlines bought its first aircraft, a Bombardier CRJ-200, on 18 August 2014 and commenced its first operation on 17 November 2014 by conducting a mountain flight and a round trip to Biratnagar Airport from Kathmandu Airport after it was forced to keep its new plane grounded for nearly three months due to lengthy paperwork.^[4] The company later added a daily service to Bhadrapur making it its second southeastern destination. On 22 June 2015, Saurya Airlines launched flights to Nepalgunj which is now discontinued.

At the beginning of 2016, Saurya Airlines was constrained to operate charter flights as per the regulations of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal after the company failed to meet the minimum required number of aircraft needed to operate as a scheduled passenger carrier.^[5] However, the company managed to provide the service to the passengers by operating scheduled charter flights. In 2016, Saurya Airlines served 90,205 passengers with the growth rate of 3.76 percent from the previous year.^[6]

In March 2017, Saurya Airlines added a second CRJ-200 to its fleet, and regained the certificate to operate scheduled flights again. This aircraft (registered 9N-AME) was painted with a "Tata Tiago livery" as per the agreement with Sipradi Trading, making the airline the first Nepalese fixed-wing aircraft company to wear the international trademark on aircraft livery.^[7]

In 2018, the airline was grounded by Tribhuvan International Airport, as it owed 30 million Nepali rupees in service charges to the airport.^[8] In March 2019, the airline cleared its dues and restarted its flight operations.^[9]

Also in 2018, the airline was sold to a group of Non Resident Nepalis for 320 million Nepali rupees.^[10] However, in 2019, the ownership changed again, when the Indian Kuber Group acquired the airline for 630 million Nepali rupees.^[11] In July 2021, some reports indicated that the airline would rebrand itself as Kuber Airlines.^[12]

On 24 July 2024, 18 of the company's employees were killed in a crash at Kathmandu. The following day, the airline suspended all flights due to the lack of aircraft and skilled personnel.^[13]

Destinations

Saurya Airlines serves to these destinations as of January 2023:

City	Airport	Notes
Bhadrapur	Chandragadhi Airport	—
Biratnagar	Biratnagar Airport	—
Dhangadhi	Dhangadhi Airport	Terminated
Kathmandu	Tribhuvan International Airport	Hub
Nepalgunj	Nepalgunj Airport	Terminated
Pokhara	Pokhara Airport	Terminated
	Pokhara International Airport	Terminated
Siddharthanagar	Gautam Buddha Airport	Terminated

Fleet

Saurya Airlines CRJ-200 (9N-AME) in the Tata Tiago livery at Siddharthanagar Airport in 2017. This plane crashed on 24 July 2024.

The Saurya Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of July 2024):

Saurya Airlines fleet

Aircraft	In fleet	Orders	Passengers	Notes
			Y
Bombardier CRJ200LR/ER	1	0	50
ATR 72-600	0	3		[14][15]
Total	1

Accidents and incidents

• 24 July 2024 – a Saurya Airlines CRJ200 (9N-AME) aircraft carrying 19 people crashed during takeoff in Kathmandu, killing 18, the sole survivor being the captain.^[16][15][17]