Nepal to resume domestic flights from Sep 21

Kathmandu: The Nepal government on Tuesday announced its decision to allow resumption of domestic flights and long-haul public transportation services from September 21 onwards, after a hiatus of nearly six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government had suspended these services in the wake of the pandemic in late March, reports Xinhua news agency. Tuesday's announcement came ahead of major festivals in Nepal, Dashain and Tihar, when people tend to travel faraway places.

"A cabinet meeting on Monday decided to resume both domestic flights and long-haul ground public transportation services to help normalize the people's lives," Yogesh Bhattarai, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, told Xinhua on Tuesday morning.

Even though Covid-19 cases in Nepal are resurging in recent weeks, Bhattarai said that these services will resume while ensuring that health protocols were followed strictly.

He said that his Ministry has already prepared the necessary health protocol to be followed by airlines while conducting domestic flights. So far, Nepal has reported 55,329 Covid-19 cases and 360 deaths. Officially, the government in early July had decided to allow short-distance public transport to resume services.

But local administrations in many districts have halted entire transportation services, citing the resurgence in positive cases in the recent weeks. The Himalayan country has already allowed the entry of scheduled international flights starting from early September.