Domestic flights resume in Nepal after 2 months haul

Jul 02, 2021

Kathmandu (Nepal), July 02 (ANI): After a span of over two months, the domestic terminal building of Kathmandu airport in Nepal on Thursday bustled with activity again as Nepal resumed domestic flights, with 50 per cent seating capacity. Regular domestic flights were suspended from May 3, days after prohibitory order was imposed in Kathmandu Valley due to the spread of COVID-19. As per the decision of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation resumed regular domestic flights from (July 1), air services to various destinations in the country. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the regulatory body, a total of 64 domestic flights would be operating on daily basis. Also, the airlines have been providing masks and face shields to all passengers on each flight to ensure enhanced cleaning of aircraft with a focus on high contact areas like seats and seatbelts, and screen the temperatures of passengers twice before boarding. Passengers must get to the airport one and a half hours before their flights. In 2020, domestic passenger traffic at Kathmandu's airport fell to its lowest level since 2009. But airline officials said that domestic carriers had recovered close to 90 per cent of pre-covid passenger numbers.