Nepal-China flights to be increased

SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, SEP 17 -
China Southern and Tibetan Airlines will be flying to Nepal if things go as planned.

Officials of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) returning from the fourth meeting of the Tibet-Nepal Joint Tourism Coordination Committee held in Lhasa said that the Nepal government would encourage these two airlines to link Nepal.

“China is positive about increasing the frequency of flights between Nepal and China,” said MoTCA spokesman Laxman Prasad Bhattarai who led the Nepali delegation in Lhasa.

Currently, China Airlines and China Eastern operate flights to Nepal. The country has targeted attracting 100,000 Chinese tourists during Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

“An increase in the number of carriers serving Nepal will make the airfares more competitive,” Bhattarai added.

Another major achievement of the meeting is the Chinese side agreeing to allow Nepali helicopter services to make rescue flights in the Manasarovar region of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

As part of the mutual tourism development strategy, the Tibet Tourism Bureau gave the green signal to the request made by the Nepali delegation. However, it will take some time to get the final approval from the Chinese government.

The bureau will also consider the process to allow chartered helicopter services by Nepali tour operators and travel agencies.

Currently, a lengthy procedure is involved before Nepal can operate rescue flights in Tibet with the application needing to be forwarded to Beijing by the Tibet Tourism Centre.

Likewise, the Tibet Tourism Bureau has also agreed to provide visas to international visitors from Nepal.

“The country’s aim is to increase the number of tourists, so we will monitor and scrutinize all documents and process them properly before issuing visas to ensure that no unlawful activities take place,” said Kishore Thapa, secretary at the MoTCA.