June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.  

The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days.  Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus.  

According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.

Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. 

The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. 

In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.

Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. 

Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal.  The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. 

Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.

The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. 

Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. 

The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.

Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad.