KATHMANDU: A flight number RA-231 of Nepal Airlines Corporation was canceled at a time when the plane was about to take off, with all the passengers aboard.

The national flag carrier of Nepal canceled its flight at the eleventh hour citing the new flights schedule that barres all flight operations from 10 pm to 8 am in the morning over the runway up-gradation.

However, speculations are rife that the flight was canceled due to some technical glitches of the aircraft itself, not because of the airport.

According to Dipak Ojha, an officer of the Immigration Department, the NA flight was canceled due to up-gradation of the runway. However, it has raised questions why this new flight schedule was applied to only the Nepal Airlines.

The NA flight RA-321 was supposed to take off at 9 pm from TIA and land at Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai at 12 am (Wednesday) as per the schedule made public, with 190 people on board, including 176 passengers and 14 crew members.