Guna Airlines to sell its all Jetstream Aircraft to Foreign company
Private airline company Guna Airlines has decided to sell all five aircraft of its 30-seat 'Jetstream-41' (J-41) series.
A representative of a foreign company that came to Kathmandu to buy those aircraft is now inspecting them at Tribhuvan International Airport. Guna bought all those J-41 aircraft from Yeti Airlines.
"Now we are going to sell all the jetstream aircraft. We have the aim of bringing more seated aircraft and providing more quality services," Guna's market manager Prajwal Thapa told .
Thapa said that the Jetstream aircraft sale will be finalized within few days. "There is a serious discussion between our management and investors to sell Jetstream to a foreign company with their representatives," Thapa said.
According to Guna's marketing manager Thapa, two new aircraft will be delivered within the current year 2023. The plan is to purchase a medium-sized 50 to 70-seater from ATR, Bombardier or Embraer.
Guna currently employs about a dozen pilots. Guna had been flying Kathmandu Pokhara, Bharatpur, Nepalgunj, Tumlingtar and Bhairahawa and mountain flight.
Guna, which has stopped regular flights for about two weeks, had been saying that the flight was stopped because it was maintaining its aircraft and training its pilots and engineers.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the country's aviation regulatory body, said that after receiving information that regular salaries were not provided to pilots and other employees, it has instructed to stop all flights.
Spokesman of the Civil Aviation Authority, Jagannath Niraula, informed that Guna Airlines have been instructed to stop flights for an indefinite period after realizing that they have not received their salaries.
He said that he sent a letter with instructions to fly only after solving the problem because flying without salary would cause problems.
He informed that after solving the problem by paying salaries to all the employees, the authority will conduct an audit again and based on the report, it will take a decision whether to grant permission for the flight or not.
Company Profile:
Guna Airlines Pvt. Ltd. (Nepali: गुण एयरलाइन्स) is an airline based in Nepal operating domestic scheduled flights from its base at Tribhuvan International Airport. Guna Airlines was initially formed in 2009, when it was part of the Guna Group a Nepalese conglomerate of companies. After ceasing operations in 2013 and transferring its operations to Simrik Airlines, the airline restarted operations in 2021 while retransferring operations back into the initial airline company.
The Guna Group began as a small gold shop known as Guna Jewellers in Patan in 1984 and has since grown to a multi-industry company. In 2009, the group launched Guna Airlines.
In 2013, Guna Airlines ceased trading due to financial difficulties and was acquired by Simrik Airlines for NRs 350 million. Simrik Airlines used the Brand of Guna for some more time before renaming and repainting the two Beechcraft 1900 aircraft, that were previously operated by Guna Airlines.
In 2020, first reports appeared stating that Guna Airlines would be reestablished. In early 2021, the airline announced that it would buy five BAE Jetstream 41 from Yeti Airlines to restart operation under the brand name Guna Airlines. For this, chairman Rajendra Shakya invested 1 billion Nepali Rupees into the company.
On 16 September 2021, operations began again with regular flights from Kathmandu to Pokhara and Bharatpur.
