KATHMANDU, Feb. 18 -- Tribhuvan International Airport Civil Aviation Office (TIA CAO) has asked Himalaya Airlines to clear all pending dues, stating that failure to do so would lead to grounding of all its aircraft.

Himalaya Airlines - a Nepal-China joint venture airline - owes service charges and penalty worth around Rs 200 million to the TIA CAO.

Earlier, the TIA CAO had given Himalaya Airlines an ultimatum of one month to clear all pending dues. Following this, the privately-owned carrier had paid Rs 5 million. After the timeframe given to the airline ended on Friday, the TIA CAO wrote yet another letter, reminding it to pay pending dues immediately or face consequences.

Raj Kumar Chhetri, general manager of TIA CAO, told Republica ...