AVIATION
Emir of Qatar lands Nepal in a Private VVIP configured Airbus A340
One of these flights carried the Emir, while his associates and employees were on another flight that landed Kathmandu today’s morning and yesterday.
As Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu underwent a temporary closure lasting half an hour during the visit of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, his aircraft an Airbus A340 with another same type of Standby aircraft have landed in TIA for his arrival in Nepal.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) had granted permission for four flights to Nepal on Sunday. One of these flights carried the Emir, while his associates and employees were on another flight that landed Kathmandu today’s morning and yesterday.
The associates aircraft arrived in Kathmandu in two private jet aircrafts on Monday and Tuesday morning on a different aircraft. These were the Gulfstream G650 aircraft that carried the necessary equipments and personnel to handle the 2 Airbus A340 aircraft in Kathmandu.
Another Airbus A340-221 landed few minutes earlier than Emir’s A340 that departed from Dhaka. This aircraft will play standby role if any malfunctions occurs in Emir’s aircraft during his travel. The Emir arrived in Nepal aboard an Airbus A340 -541 aircraft with registration ‘A7-HHH’ at 3:42 PM today. This aircraft is renowned for long-haul flights worldwide. It is used by VIPs, wealthy individuals, entrepreneurs, and celebrities for travel between continents.
All these flights were arranged by Qatar Airways’ subsidiary, Qatar Executive, through the Qatari Embassy in Kathmandu.
During this visit, none of the four aircraft will be charged for landing parking fees at Tribhuvan International Airport. However, all passengers, including Emir, will be charged a service fee of 3,300 Nepali Rupees per person as passenger handling fee by TIA.