Shree Airlines

Is Shree Airlines safe?

Its aircraft have no accident on record, which puts it near the top of a weak field. Shree Airlines began scheduled flights in 2017 and now flies about ten aircraft, mostly Dash 8-400 turboprops, from Kathmandu to the cities of Nepal's plains and on Everest sightseeing flights. In nine years we found no crash, hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary or runway excursionRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary. What we did find is a string of technical turn-backs: engine failures, smoke, an engine fire warning and a hydraulic failure, all ending in safe landings. Like every Nepali airline it is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary, and it has no IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit. We score it 56, above Buddha Air (55), which had a fatal crash in 2011 and an overrun in 2026.

From helicopters to Dash 8s

Shree started in 1999 as Air Ananya, a helicopter charter company, and built up a fleet of Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters. It still flies them, along with two H125s, on its own certificate (030/2002), for charter, relief and UN work.

Scheduled flights began in 2017 with two 50-seat CRJ-200 jets and two 70-seat CRJ-700s. Shree then switched mostly to the 80-seat Dash 8-400, adding aircraft in 2019 and 2022 and two more from Horizon Air in March 2024. In April 2026 aeroTELEGRAPH counted seven Dash 8-400s and three CRJ-200s.

The Dash 8-400 is a fast turboprop with a glass cockpit, well suited to Nepal's regional runways. Shree's are second-hand, and it publishes no build years or average age. The CRJ-200 is an older 50-seat jet; Saurya Airlines lost one on take-off from Kathmandu in July 2024, but that was a different airline and certificate.

The 2006 helicopter crash

On 23 September 2006 a Shree helicopter chartered by WWF Nepal lost contact minutes after leaving Ghunsa, in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area. It was found two kilometres away; all 24 people on board had died, including a state minister for forests, Finland's chargé d'affaires and some of Nepal's leading conservationists. The crash falls one month outside our 20-year window, so it does not lower the accident score, but it is the reason we do not put Shree higher in the band. The ASN data we use covers airliners, not helicopters, and we found no later fatal crash in its helicopter operation.

In April 2019 a parked Shree helicopter was damaged at Lukla when a Summit Air L-410 veered off the runway. That accident counts on Summit's page.

Repeated technical turn-backs

AeroInside, which reprints Aviation Herald reports, lists six Shree Dash 8 events since 2022:

After the fire warning the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal grounded every Shree aircraft on 10 March 2023 and let flights resume the next day, once technical checks were done. Each event was handled safely, and crews followed the right procedure, including climbing clear of terrain before turning back. But three of the first four involved the same aircraft, 9N-ANF, and five in-flight faults in four years on a fleet of about ten point to maintenance reliability worth watching. Nepal publishes few incident reports, so we cannot tell how many others went unreported.

How to fly Shree Airlines more safely

• Fly in the morning, especially in the monsoon. Cloud builds over the hills by midday, and the short regional runways Shree serves leave little margin in rain.
• On the mountain flight, take the first departure on a clear day. If it is cancelled for weather, take the refund or the next morning.
• Do not worry about a turn-back. A Dash 8 that returns to Kathmandu after an engine warning is doing what it should. What matters is that the airline fixes the cause before the aircraft flies again.

How we scored it

The accident record (80) is the strongest factor: no aircraft accident since 2017, with the 2006 helicopter crash just outside the window. Oversight (25) is the same as for every Nepali airline, and the environment (30) the same as Buddha's. The fleet (55) is a second-hand but capable turboprop fleet, and serious incidents (50) reflect repeated engine and system faults with safe outcomes, plus the 2023 fleet grounding.