Flying to Kathmandu: The Good, the Bad and the Useless - Which Airline to Choose

   Every year tens of thousands of tourists head to Nepal for trekking and touring, most of them flying in from Europe or North America. And yet, flying to Kathmandu is still noticeably more expensive and complicated that flying to India or other destinations.

  The number of airlines flying the route remains small, fares are ridiculously high, the national carrier Nepal Airlines is worth avoiding like the plague, and routes through India on seperate tickets often require that you get an Indian visa to transfer between terminals. So where does that leave travellers? And what are your best options?

 

I've flown to Kathmandu with most of the possible airlines and in general the Middle Eastern airlines are often the best choice, especially Qatar and Etihad.

 

 I flew with Etihad for my last flight to Nepal and they were great. Their 'Space' seats live up to their name, especially as the cabin is rarely more than half full, unlike economy. Special praise goes to their business class seats. You get your own private booth and seats recline fully flat, giving you a great night’s sleep (and even a massage). The a la carte food and drink selections are also excellent. In short, this was the best seven hours I’ve ever spent on a plane.

 

Etihad's Business Class

 

 

 If Business Class is beyond your budget, and you have a long layover in Abu Dhabi (I had over eight hours), definitely consider paying for the Etihad lounge. Free food and alcoholic drinks (Punk IPA), comfy chairs and work stations and, normally, showers, dramatically improve a long transit and are well worth the money.

 

 The bad news is that the leg from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu is on Air Arabia and the budget airline is always bursting with migrant workers heading between Nepal and the Gulf. The biggest problem is that there is almost no coordination between Etihad and Air Arabia. The Air Arabia website won’t understand any of your Etihad booking references, so you can’t reserve a seat, even if you visit the Air Arabia office in Kathmandu as I did. Air Arabia passengers however can book a seat online, meaning by the time you get your seat assignment you’ll end up with a middle seat in a block of five. For five hours. You will get a meal though, unlike Air Arabia passengers. As with most budget airlines Air Arabia are impossible to get hold of and useless even if you do get through.  I hated dealing with them.

 

 Other options are also a mixed bag. Turkish Airlines offer good connections but are pricey these days. Also, their connections seem too tight, so there’s a good chance you’ll miss your connection in Istanbul and have to overnight there; at the airline’s expense (ut you’ll have to pay for your own visa). A hassle.

 

 Qatar is generally a good option, though I avoided them on last year's visit because I didn’t want to be travelling through Qatar during the World Cup.

 

Upper Class on Virgin

 

 

 Other airlines like Oman Air and Gulf seem to have long connection times from the UK, though might be better from other European cities.

 

 If you are headed to Delhi from the UK I'd also give a thumb's up for Virgin Atlantic. Not only is their customer service miles ahead of the always surly British Airways but the flying experience is much better. Their Delight class is a big step up from economy but my real praise goes to their Upper Class seats. From meals cooked to order, to the flat-bed seats and even a seperate sitting area where you can do some work or grab a beer, this is a really top class flying experience. I flew with Virgin to Delhi to connect with a flight to Bhutan and it was a real pleasure. The only trouble with Upper Class is that once you have tried it, you won't ever want to go back to economy.

 

 Bottom line: Virgin, Qatar and Etihad are my choice every time. My next flight is to Sri Lanka, so I'll write a post about flying experiences when I get back from that. Cheers!