Tara Air

Tara Air Pvt. Ltd. is an airline headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.^[3] It is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines. Tara Air was formed in 2009 using aircraft from the Yeti Airlines fleet and is based at Tribhuvan International Airport, with a secondary hub at Nepalgunj Airport. The airline operates scheduled flights and air charter services with a fleet of STOL aircraft, previously provided by Yeti Airlines. Its operations focus on serving remote and mountainous airports and airstrips.^[4]

Tara Air

IATA ICAO Callsign TB[1] TRA[lower-alpha 1] TARA AIR
Founded	2009; 15 years ago (2009)
Hubs	Tribhuvan International Airport
Secondary hubs	Nepalgunj Airport Pokhara Airport
Fleet size	3
Destinations	7
Parent company	Yeti Airlines
Headquarters	Kathmandu, Nepal
Key people	Ang Tshering Sherpa, Founder
Website	www.taraair.com

History

Tara Air was formed in 2009 when Yeti Airlines split its STOL aircraft operations from its regional operations.^[5] The airline's STOL operations were rebranded as Tara Air and focused on providing services into remote and mountainous airports and airstrips.^[6]

Destinations

Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter at Jomsom Airport

Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter at Simikot Airport

Tara Air Dornier 228 at Tenzing-Hillary Airport

The airline operates scheduled domestic flights to a number of destinations as well as offering air charter services. Tara Air operates daily scheduled flights between Kathmandu and Lukla, and between Jomsom and Pokhara. Other destinations are served at varying frequency.^[2]

Destination	Airport	Notes	Refs.
Kathmandu	Tribhuvan International Airport	Hub
Nepalgunj	Nepalgunj Airport	Focus city
Pokhara	Pokhara Airport	Focus city
Bajhang	Bajhang Airport	Terminated	[7]
Bajura	Bajura Airport	Terminated
Bhojpur	Bhojpur Airport	Terminated
Birendranagar	Surkhet Airport	Terminated	[7]
Bowang	Dhorpatan Airport	Terminated	[7]
Diktel	Khanidanda Airport	Terminated
Dolpa	Dolpa Airport
Jiri	Jiri Airport	Terminated	[7]
Jomsom	Jomsom Airport
Jumla	Jumla Airport
Lukla	Tenzing-Hillary Airport
Lamidanda	Lamidanda Airport	Terminated
Langtang	Langtang Airport	Terminated	[7]
Manang	Manang Airport	Terminated
Manthali	Ramechhap Airport		[8]
Phaplu	Phaplu Airport
Rara	Talcha Airport
Rumjatar	Rumjatar Airport	Terminated
Rukum	Rukumkot Airport	Terminated	[7]
Rukum	Rukum Salle Airport	Terminated	[7]
Sanphebagar	Sanphebagar Airport	Terminated
Simikot	Simikot Airport
Syangboche	Syangboche Airport	Terminated

Codeshare agreements

Tara Air has a codeshare agreement with its mother company Yeti Airlines.^[9]

Fleet

Tara Air's fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of June 2022):^{[10][11][12][better source needed]}

Tara Air fleet

Aircraft	In Fleet	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			C	Y	Total
de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter	2	—	0	19	19
Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter	1	—	0	18	18
Total	3	—

Accidents and incidents

Tara Air has been considered one of the "most unsafe airlines" due to several significant incidents.^[12]

• On 26 May 2010, a DHC-6 Twin Otter took off from Birendranagar Airport in Surkhet heading for Talcha Airport in Rara with 18 passengers and 3 crew on board. At 10 am the aircraft had to make an emergency landing at Birendranagar Airport after its cabin door suddenly opened five minutes after take-off. Tara Air officials said that the cabin attendant managed to lock the door immediately after it opened to avert any possible mishaps.^[13]

• On 15 December 2010, a DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed shortly after takeoff from Lamidanda Airport in Nepal; it was en route to Kathmandu.^[14] All 19 passengers and 3 flight crew were killed.^[15]

• On 23 June 2011, a Tara Air Dornier 228 was substantially damaged in a heavy landing and runway excursion at Simikot Airport, Nepal. The aircraft was operating a cargo flight from Nepalgunj Airport.^[16]

• On 21 September 2012, a DHC-6 Twin Otter en route from Dolpa to Nepalgunj was damaged during takeoff when the pilot lost directional control. No one was hurt in the incident.^[17]

• On 24 February 2016, Tara Air Flight 193 went missing shortly after take off whilst traveling to Pokhara-Jomsom. It was later found that the aircraft crashed into the mountainous northern region killing 23 people including 2 babies and 3 crew members.^[18]

• On 22 April 2019, a Tara Air Dornier 228 aircraft skidded off the runway upon landing at Ramechhap Airport. Due to adverse weather, the flight from Tribhuvan International Airport to Lukla Airport was diverted to Ramechhap Airport. All of the crew and passengers evacuated the aircraft safely.^[19]

• On 1 December 2021, a Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft had a tyre burst upon landing at Bajura Airport. While no one was injured, a video of passengers pushing the aircraft off the runway, as there was no suitable vehicle at the airport, went viral.^[20]

• On 29 May 2022, Tara Air Flight 197 lost contact with ATC 12 minutes after takeoff from Pokhara Airport. The wreckage was found 20 hours later on the side of a mountain in Sanosware, Mustang District; none of the 22 on board survived.^[21]

Notes

1. Tara Air has no registered ICAO code allocated, but uses 'TRA' on scheduling, ticketing and baggage (as an official ICAO code would be used). However, officially, the ICAO Code 'TRA' is allocated to Transavia.^[2]

References

1. "Airline Code Search Result". Av Codes. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
2. "Flight Schedule". Tara Air. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
3. "Profile on Tara Air | CAPA". Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
4. "About Us". Tara Air. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
5. "About Us". Tara Air. Archived from the original on 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
6. "Explore Nepal Archived 2011-10-30 at the Wayback Machine." (Archive) Tara Air. Retrieved on 29 December 2011. "Tara Air Pvt. Ltd. Tilganga, Kathmandu, GPO Box 20011"
7. "Route Map". Tara Air. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010.
8. "Domestic airline companies issue travel alert for passengers". The Himalayan Times. April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
9. "Lukla Tenzing Hillary Airport". FlightRadar24. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
10. "Tara Air to merge with Yeti Airlines for providing better service". Aviation Nepal. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
11. "Tara Air". rz jets. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
12. Asquith, James. "The 2019 List Of The Most Dangerous Airlines In The World". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
13. Nepalnews.com^{[permanent dead link]}, accessed December 6, 2010
14. Aviation Safety Network
15. "All passengers killed in Nepal plane crash". BBC News. 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
16. Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Tara D228 at Simikot on Jun 23rd 2011, hard landing results in runway excursion and gear collapse". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
17. "Accident description". Retrieved 25 September 2017.
18. "Plane crashes in Nepal midway through 19-minute flight; 23 feared dead". CNN. 24 February 2016.
19. "Tara Air's Plane Slipped Off At Ramechhap Airport". Spotlight Nepal. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
20. Cost, Ben (7 December 2021). "Passengers forced to push plane down runway after tire ruptures". New York Post. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
21. "Twin Otter in Nepal im Himalaya abgestürzt" [Twin Otter crashed in the Himalayas in Nepal]. aeroTELEGRAPH (in Swiss High German). 29 May 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

External links

Media related to Tara Air at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website