"The flight is almost full. We have got a good response from passengers" said an official IA spokesperson. IA did not give out the exact occupancy figures. IA has decided to keep the inaugural flight as low key as possible, brushing aside requests from foreign media representatives to travel on-board this flight, the first after the hijacking of IC 814 on December 24 on its way from Kathmandu to Delhi.

The IA service between Calcutta and Kathmandu will be resumed from Friday. There is no decision yet on the Varanasi-Kathamandu flight as this service is heavily dependent on foreign groups who may have already made alternative travel arrangements.

The IA operations have been resumed after several rounds of talks between Indian and Nepalese authorities. The mountain kingdom has allowed Indian security personnel to be located at Kathmandu for ensuring, amongst other safety measures, ladder point frisking of passengers on IA flights.

IA's operations to Kathmandu were suspended in December last year after a eight-day hijacking drama which turned bloody, resulting in loss of life of one passenger. The Indian Government secured the safety of hostage passengers by releasing three hard-core Kashmiri militants.

In the outcry following the hijacking, it was reported that the hijackers may have landed at the Kathmandu airport from a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft and may have just sauntered across and boarded the IA plane. Lax security at Kathmandu airport was primarily blamed for the hijacking incident though it was reported that several Indian airports also do not ensure strict security measures.