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. Tara's fleet is made up of Dornier 228, DHC-6 and PC-6.[4] Due to Tara Air flying to such remote airstrips, their crash rate is much higher. They were rated "most unsafe airline in 2019[5]

Tara Air
IATA ICAO Callsign
TB[1] TRA[lower-alpha 1] TARA AIR
Founded2009
HubsTribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu
Secondary hubsNepalgunj Airport, Pokhara Airport
Fleet size8
Destinations15
Parent companyYeti Airlines
HeadquartersKathmandu, Nepal
Key peopleLhakpa Sonam Sherpa
Websitewww.taraair.com
Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter at Jomsom Airport
Tara Air DHC-6 Twin Otter at Simikot Airport

History

Tara Air was formed in 2009 when Yeti Airlines split its STOL aircraft operations from its regional operations.[6] The airline's STOL operations were rebranded as Tara Air and focused on providing services into remote and mountainous airports and airstrips.[7]

Destinations

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]

DestinationAirportNotesRefs.
KathmanduTribhuvan International AirportHub
NepalgunjNepalgunj AirportFocus city
PokharaPokhara AirportFocus city
BajhangBajhang AirportTerminated[8]
BajuraBajura Airport
BhojpurBhojpur Airport[9]
BirendranagarSurkhet AirportTerminated[8]
BowangDhorpatan AirportTerminated[8]
DiktelKhanidanda Airport
DolpaDolpa Airport
JiriJiri AirportTerminated[8]
JomsomJomsom Airport
JumlaJumla Airport
LuklaTenzing-Hillary Airport
LamidandaLamidanda Airport
LangtangLangtang AirportTerminated[8]
ManangManang AirportTerminated
ManthaliRamechhap Airport[10]
PhapluPhaplu Airport
RaraTalcha Airport
RumjatarRumjatar Airport
RukumRukumkot AirportTerminated[8]
RukumRukum Salle AirportTerminated[8]
SanphebagarSanphebagar AirportTerminated
SimikotSimikot Airport
SyangbocheSyangboche AirportTerminated

Fleet
Tara Air Dornier 228 at Tenzing-Hillary Airport

Tara Air's fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of July 2019):[11]

Tara Air fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Dornier 228 2 0 19 19
de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter 3 0 19 19
Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter 1 0 18 18 Two originally delivered. One crashed on February 24, 2016 (Tara Air Flight 193)[12]
Pilatus PC-6 Porter[13] 2 0 7 7 Seasonally operated
Total 8 0

Accidents and incidents
  • 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.[14]
  • On 15 December 2010 a DHC-6 Twin Otter crashed shortly after takeoff from Lamidanda Airport in Nepal; it was en route to Kathmandu.[15] All 19 passengers and 3 flight crew were killed.[16]
  • On 23 June 2011, a Tara Air Dornier 228 9N-AGQ was substantially damaged in a heavy landing and runway excursion at Simikot Airport, Nepal. The aircraft was operating a cargo flight from Nepalgunj Airport.[17]
  • 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.[18]
  • 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.[19]
  • On 1 March 2019, following the 2019 Taplejung helicopter crash, Yeti Airlines halted all of their flights mourning the loss of their managing director Ang Tshering Sherpa (de).[20][21]
  • 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.[22]

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. Asquith, James. "The 2019 List Of The Most Dangerous Airlines In The World". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  5. Asquith, James. "The 2019 List Of The Most Dangerous Airlines In The World". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  6. "About Us". Tara Air. Archived from the original on 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  7. "Explore Nepal Archived 2011-12-29 at WebCite." (Archive) Tara Air. Retrieved on 29 December 2011. "Tara Air Pvt. Ltd. Tilganga, Kathmandu, GPO Box 20011"
  8. "Route Map". Tara Air. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010.
  9. "Tara Air starts flight to Bhojpur". The Himalayan Times. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  10. "Domestic airline companies issue travel alert for passengers". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  11. "Tara Air to merge with Yeti Airlines for providing better service". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  12. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20160224-0
  13. "Tara Air". rz jets. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  14. Nepalnews.com, accessed December 6, 2010
  15. Aviation Safety Network
  16. "All passengers killed in Nepal plane crash". BBC News. 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  17. 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.
  18. "Accident description". Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  19. http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/24/asia/nepal-missing-plane/
  20. "Yeti and Tara cancel all flights for tomorrow to mourn MD Sherpa's demise". The Himalayan Times. 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  21. "Air Dynasty chopper carrying Tourism Minister, Yeti Airlines owner crashes in Taplejung". Setopati. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  22. "Tara Air's Plane Slipped Off At Ramechhap Airport". Spotlight Nepal. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
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