After eight months, non-Nepalis were finally allowed to fly to Kathmandu from 17 October, but with two bizarre exceptions: flights from Indian cities are still banned, and only foreign trekkers and mountaineers are allowed into Nepal.
While the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has lifted passenger restrictions at Kathmandu airport, and international airlines have added services to meet the Dasain peak, flights to New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru are still not permitted.
After eight months, non-Nepalis were finally allowed to fly to Kathmandu from 17 October, but with two bizarre exceptions: flights from Indian cities are still banned, and only foreign trekkers and mountaineers are allowed into Nepal.
While the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has lifted passenger restrictions at Kathmandu airport, and international airlines have added services to meet the Dasain peak, flights to New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru are still not permitted.
Foreigners can now travel to Nepal, but only if they want to go trekking or climb a Himalayan mountain. Foreign passport holders who want to reunite with families, visit friends, join meditation classes, or just want to chill out in Kathmandu or Pokhara, are mysteriously still banned.
Neither CAAN nor the government have given any official explanation about why flights to and from India are still not allowed, although ministers have privately said that it is because of the pandemic peak in India. However, the total new cases in India have started going down, while Covid-19 cases and fatalities are rising in Nepal – Wednesday saw highest daily death tally reach 26.
The India flight restrictions are all the more absurd because people have been travelling to and fro across the India-Nepal land border without tests or quarantines, whereas air passengers would need a mandatory PCR negative certificate before boarding, and quarantine at home for a week after landing in Kathmandu.
The Indian authorities had proposed an ‘air bubble’ with Nepal two months ago to allow nationals of both countries to travel back and forth, but there has been no response from officials in Nepal. Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai and Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra met on 11 October, but not much was disclosed.
22/10/20 Nepal Times
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