Kathmandu: Kingfisher Airlines, the private Indian airline that boasts of "premium first class service on domestic route", will soon spread its wings overseas with flights to neighbouring Nepal.

The three-year-old company launched in May 2005 by India's wellknown UB Group has begun recruitments in Nepal for flights likely to commence from July-end, aviation sources told IANS.

The first flights are likely to be from Mumbai or Bangalore to Kathmandu via New Delhi, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Known for pampering its customers, Kingfisher's entry in Nepal is going to cause ripples in the Himalayan nation's aviation sector.

India's national carrier Indian has a virtual monopoly in the Kathmandu-Varanasi and Kathmandu-Kolkata sectors after Nepali private operator Cosmic Air stopped flights to these cities, causing fares to shoot up and service to deteriorate.

On the Delhi-Kathmandu route, Kingfisher's entry will also affect Jet Airways, which currently runs the maximum number of flights between Kathmandu and New Delhi since its acquisition of Air Sahara.

Following its merger with Indian private budget airline Deccan, Kingfisher now connects 64 cities with 484 daily departures.

The Kathmandu flights will see the start of its foray abroad.