Yeti Airlines

Is Yeti Airlines safe?

It has a weak record, in a country where flying is hard. Yeti is one of Nepal's largest domestic airlines, flying ATR 72 turboprops between Kathmandu, Pokhara and the cities of the plains. In 20 years it has had two fatal crashes, the worst on 15 January 2023, when flight 691 crashed on approach to Pokhara and all 72 people on board died. 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 37.

That does not mean Nepal's trunk routes are a gamble each time. Most flights are short, daytime hops in turboprops built for this kind of work. But the margins are thinner than at airlines with a strong regulator, and two of the main causes of the 2023 crash were training and oversight, not the aircraft.

What went wrong on flight 691?

The ATR 72-500, registered 9N-ANC, was on its third sector of the morning from Kathmandu. Two captains were on board: one was being familiarised with Pokhara's new airport, which had opened two weeks earlier, and the other was the instructor. During the approach the crew switched from runway 30 to runway 12, which needs a tight circuit close to high ground. Yeti's operations department had not planned that familiarisation, and no approved chart existed for that circuit.

At 721 feet above the ground the pilot flying called for flaps 30. Nepal's investigation commission, in its final report of 28 December 2023, found that the instructor most likely moved both condition levers, next to the flap lever on the pedestal, to the feathered position. Both propellers stopped producing thrust while the engines idled. The crew ran the landing checklist, silenced a caution and kept turning. By the time they noticed there was "no power" it was too late; the ATR stalled and crashed into the Seti River gorge.

No engine or system failure was found. The report lists high workload and stress, the unvalidated runway 12 circuit, missing simulator and classroom training for the new airport, ignored standard procedures and weak crew coordination. It also notes that safety risks raised by the regulator's own team were never resolved before the circuit was used.

The earlier crash and the group's record

On 8 October 2008 a Yeti Twin Otter landing at Lukla, the airstrip for Everest, flew into a cloud patch on short final and hit rocks near the runway. Eighteen of 19 people died; only the captain survived. The investigators blamed the crew's decision to continue in poor weather and the failure of both the regulator and the company to stop unsafe practices at short mountain strips.

Yeti later moved its Twin Otters to its sister airline, Tara Air, which flies the mountain routes on its own certificate. Tara Air has had three fatal crashes since then: 22 dead near Okhaldhunga in December 2010, 23 near Dana in February 2016, and 22 on the Pokhara–Jomsom route in May 2022. We score Yeti and Tara Air separately, as we do with regional airlines elsewhere, but if you buy a mountain flight from the group, Tara's record is the one that applies.

Why every Nepali airline is EU-listed

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 of June 2026 bans every carrier certified by Nepal's regulator, from Buddha Air and Nepal Airlines to Yeti (certificate 037/2004) and Tara Air. Nepal has been on the list since 2013. Nepal does not appear on the FAA safety assessment list, which covers only countries whose airlines serve the United States. Yeti is not an IATA member, so there is 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 to fall back on. Oversight scores 25.

What does Yeti fly?

Seven ATR 72-500s in June 2024, according to ch-aviation, serving eight airports. The -500 is a sound, widely used turboprop, but an older design without the -600's glass cockpit. The airline has said it wants three used ATR 72-600s of eight to nine years old, backed by Asian Life Insurance, which bought 49% of Yeti in 2023. The Jetstream 41s it flew until a few years ago had several runway excursionsRunway 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, at Bhairahawa in 2015 and 2016 and at Kathmandu in 2018; an ATR also left the runway at Kathmandu in July 2019.

How to fly in Nepal more safely

• Fly early. Cloud builds over the hills by midday, especially from June to September. Morning flights are the most reliable and the least likely to push on in marginal weather.
• Do not pressure the crew. Delays for weather are a good sign, not a nuisance. The 2022 Tara Air crash followed someone urging a hesitant captain to go.
• Know which airline flies your mountain leg. Lukla, Jomsom and Simikot flights are Twin Otters or Dorniers on separate certificates, not Yeti's ATRs.

How we scored it

The accident record (35) carries two fatal crashes in 20 years, one of them very recent, on a small domestic network. Oversight (25) reflects the EU ban and the absence of 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, and the environment (30) Nepal's terrain and weather. Fleet (55) is the strongest factor. Compare Pakistan International Airlines, another carrier from the region with a fatal crash in the last decade.