| Airline: | Necon Air |
| Iata: | 3Z |
| Icao: | NEC[1] |
| Callsign: | NECON AIR[2] |
| Founded: | 14 September 1992 |
| Commenced: | 1992 |
| Ceased: | 2003 |
| Hubs: | Tribhuvan International Airport |
| Fleet Size: | 2 (at the time of closure) |
| Destinations: | 10 (at the time of closure) |
| Headquarters: | Nepal |
Necon Air was a Nepalese airline based in Kathmandu. The airline was Nepal's first private airline company and was established on 14 September 1992 with one Hawker Siddeley HS 748 aircraft. The airline indefinitely suspended flights in 2003 due to financial difficulties and was delisted from the Nepal Stock Exchange in 2006.[3]
Necon Air was established as Nepal's first private airline company in 1992.
In 2001, the airline partly merged with two other local airlines, Shangri-La Air and Karnali Air. As a part of this, Necon Air took over Shangri-La Air's fleet of two Beechcraft 1900Ds. Plans were announced to add two medium size Boeing or Airbus aircraft by September 2002 and extending the network to new regional destinations in South Asia and China.[4] The Executive Chairman of Karnali Air, Narayan Singh Pun took on the position of Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Necon Air.[5]
Necon Air indefinitely suspended flights in 2003 due to financial difficulties. Along with debt to private commercial banks, the airline also owed NPRs 20 million to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal for landing and ground charges and NPRs. 20 million to the Nepal Oil Corporation for fuel.[6] The airline was also in dispute with Raytheon over leasing and financial arrangements for their Beechcraft 1900 aircraft and Raytheon were seeking the grounding of the aircraft.[7]
Necon Air regularly served the following destinations, which were cancelled either at the closure of operations or before:[8]
| Country | City | IATA | ICAO | Airport | Notes | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | Patna | PAT | VEPT | Jay Prakash Narayan Airport | |||
| Varanasi | VNS | VEBN | Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport | ||||
| Nepal | Bhairahawa | BWA | VNBW | Bhairahawa Airport | |||
| Bhadrapur | BDP | VNCG | Bhadrapur Airport | ||||
| Biratnagar | BIR | VNVT | Biratnagar Airport | ||||
| Janakpur | JKR | VNJP | Janakpur Airport | ||||
| Kathmandu | KTM | VNKT | Tribhuvan International Airport | ||||
| Nepalgunj | KEP | VNNG | Nepalgunj Airport | ||||
| Pokhara | PKR | VNPK | Pokhara Airport | ||||
| Simara | SIF | VNSI | Simara Airport | ||||
Necon Air operated the following aircraft throughout its history:
| 2 | Registered 9N-AFU and 9N-AGP.[9] | |
| Hawker Siddeley HS 748 | 6 | Registered 9N-ACH, 9N-ACM, 9N-ACP, 9N-ADE, 9N-AEG, 9N-AEH |
| Beechcraft 1900 | 2 | Registered 9N-AGI, 9N-AGL |
| Cessna 208 | 2 | Registered 9N-ADA, 9N-AEF |