April 9: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the country's sole operational international airport, has suspended flights for around a month due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic. However, the airport continues to see international flights during the nationwide lockdown against the disease for three weeks.
As informed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), international aviation service providers made 19 flights from TIA till Wednesday since March 23, a day before the lockdown was imposed. They were chartered flights with some cargo flights.
CAAN Spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri said over 3,000 foreigners returned home via those flights during lockdown.
Qatar Airways made the highest nine flights followed by four flights of Nepal Airlines Corporation -- the national flag carrier of Nepal -- and one flight each by Korean, Malaysian, Etihad, Czech Republican and Titan airways.
They carried people from mainly European countries and from New Zealand, Malaysia, and the US back to their homes. The flights were managed by the embassies of the respective countries in Nepal while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had facilitated towards that end. -- RSS