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No frills carrier SpiceJet on Monday cut down base fare for its evening flights to Kathmandu to Re 1 for two days starting on Monday, and announced that it will mount two more special planes to aid evacuation of travellers stranded in earthquake-devastated Nepal.
"We plan to operate two additional flights to Kathmandu to help the Indians stranded there."
'A flight early this morning could not land at the Kathmandu airport and returned to Delhi because of the weather conditions there," SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh said.
The special flights are being operated to help the government and other agencies in carrying relief material and rescue teams to Nepal, he said, adding "we have decided not to carry any commercial cargo on the flights to Kathmandu".
SpiceJet operates two flights form New Delhi to Kathamandu.
The airline will fly five planes to the Nepalese capital today, he said adding that two flights have already departed for the Tibhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
Its evening flight would today transport two rescue mission teams, one each from Denmark and Germany, and relief material, he said. SpiceJet has created a special email ID - earthquakerelief@spicejet.com - for accredited NGOs and relief organizations to contact the airline for free carriage of relief materials, doctors and rescue personnel to Kathmandu.
Meanwhile, another private carrier Jet Airways said that due to relief efforts in Kathmandu, there was a critical shortage of parking bays and resources for scheduled flights arriving at the Kathmandu airport. "As a result, the morning flight from Delhi to Kathmandu was diverted to Lucknow."
"Subsequent flights from Mumbai and Delhi have also been delayed due to the uncertainty about airport availability," Jet Airways said in a statement.
"The situation remains dynamic. We are monitoring the situation on a continuous basis and are in contact with the ATCs at Kathmandu, Delhi and Mumbai," it said.
National carrier Air India, which had suspended its operations after one flight from New Delhi due to the developments at the Kathmandu airport, also flown one services from New Delhi, which landed in Kathmandu at around 12 pm.