Starting an Airline in Nepal – An Interview with Manoj Karki of Goma Air

Published on October 6, 2013 by Aidan Loehr in Interviews

0 Flares Facebook 0 Twitter 0 Google+ 0 LinkedIn 0 0 Flares ×

Manoj Karki is the Managing Director of Goma Air, a small airline serving STOL airstrips in Western Nepal with two Cessna Grand Caravans.

Manoj Kari of Goma Air

I did some work for Goma Air back in 2011, helping experienced Twin Otter drivers get experience flying the Cessna Caravan.

In this interview, you’ll hear about the business side of oddball flying, including:

How Manoj got from a career in accounting to aviation
How Goma Air got started
The unique partnership between senior pilots, senior engineers, and management and financial experts that got the company off the ground
Choosing the Caravan, and finding some
Financing the company
Goma Air’s relationship with Kenmore Air in Seattle
Getting the pilots trained on the Caravan in Seattle
Buying the airplanes
Ferrying the aircraft to Nepal
The paperwork it took to get started
Why business was booming from day one
Goma Air’s relationships with other airlines
The challenges of running an airline in Nepal
The unique challenges of the airline business (compared to other industries)
The similarities between flying in Nepal and Alaska