August 31: The government of Nepal is preparing to sign air service agreements with three more countries.

A meeting of the high-level management committee of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on Sunday, August 30, decided to move ahead with the process of signing air service agreements with Indonesia, Finland and Russia.

Nepal has so far signed bilateral air service agreements and memoranda of understanding with 40 countries for air connectivity. Currently, 30 international airlines including three Nepali carries have been operating their flight to 32 destinations in 15 countries.

Nepal recently had signed an air service agreement with Australia on October 1, 2019. Australia is the 40th country to sign an air service agreement with Nepal.

Nepal had entered into an agreement with Australia to enjoy the Fifth Freedom as an intermediate point using two points in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Earlier, Cambodia was the 39th country to sign an air service agreement with Nepal.

Among the countries preparing for the air service agreement, Finland itself had shown interest for air service agreement with Nepal while Nepal had initiated talks with the other two countries.