Demand for more flights

As part of the government directive to increase number of arriving passengers to 800 per day, more Nepalis have started arriving on scheduled and chartered repatriation flights. However, travel industry sources say the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has not spaced out the arriving flights properly, and the airport is crowded when flights arrive at the same time making it impossible to maintain social distancing. They also say that far more flights can be accommodated if they are staggered through the day and night so as to clear the huge backlog of stranded Nepalis for repatriation.

And clear guidelines and haphazard management at the airport means that you and passengers arriving with PCR negative reports have to spend six hours after arrival in holding centres.

Ten international airlines are conducting more than 100 scheduled flights in September, with another 54 charter flights mainly from the Gulf. Although Indian civil aviation sources say that they are ready to fly from Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata to Kathmandu, permission has not been forthcoming from the Nepal government. There are many Nepalis stranded in India and Indians in Nepal who want to fly back to their home countries.

Nepal’s other carrier, Himalaya Airlines, has said it will operate schedule flights to Chongqing, Kuala Lumpur, and Abu Dhabi.