Shree Airlines (N9, Kathmandu) will more than double its Dash 8-400 fleet, spokesman Anil Manandhar said during the type's inaugural commercial service last week. The Nepali carrier currently has two of the type and, Manandhar told the Setopati newspaper, is now planning to add three more.

He did not disclose delivery dates or where the aircraft would come from. However, he did confirm they would be used to increase Shree's domestic Nepali network, the Kathmandu-Pokhara International route in particular.

“We are preparing to add three more Dash-8 series aircraft. Thereafter we will operate five flights a day on the Kathmandu-Pokhara route,” he said. “We will submit the proposal to both the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for permission to bring new aircraft after completing our preparations.”

Until now, Shree Airlines had operated a fleet of two CRJ200s and two CRJ700s (of which one is inactive) on flights connecting Bhadrapur, Bhairahawa, Biratnagar, Dhangarhi, Janakpur, Nepalgunj, Pokhara International, and Rajbiraj.