INDIAN, CHINESE AIRLINES TARGET NEPAL

KEDAR DAHAL

KATHMANDU, April 15

More Indian and Chinese airlines are starting flights to Kathmandu with Nepal becoming an attractive destination for tourists from the two countries.

Nine out of the 28 airlines operating international flights in Nepal are from the two neighboring countries while two more companies from these countries are preparing to operate flights to Kathmandu. Jet Airways, Air India, Indigo Airlines, and Spice Jet are currently operating flights from India while Druk Air of Bhutan has been operating flights to Paro of Bhutan from Delhi via Kathmandu.

Go Airlines of India is also preparing to start flights to Kathmandu within a few months while the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) will soon start flights to three Indian destinations, apart from Guangzhou and Chengdu of China. Sichuan Airlines of China has recently started Chengdu-Lhasa-Kathmandu flights while Himalayan Airlines will also operate flights in the same route form the next month. Air China, China Eastern and China Southern of China have already been operating flights to Nepal.

“Nepal is an attractive destination for Chinese and Indian tourists, and more airlines from these countries, therefore, are arriving,” promoter of Himalayan Airlines Suman Pandey says. “Himalayan started with Nepali investment is also preparing to start flights targeting Chinese attraction,” he adds. A total of 71,861 Chinese tourists had visited Nepal in 2012. It rose to 113,173 in 2013 and is estimated to have crossed 150,000 in 2014.

General Secretary of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Vinayak Shah says the majority of star hotels in Nepal are filled with Chinese and Indian tourists. “Nepal must now focus attention on Chinese and Indian tourists. It will be beneficial to pay attention toward that,” he adds. Arrival of Chinese tourists has started significantly after an excellent pavilion by Nepal in the Shanghai Expo five years ago.

Visit by Indian tourists is also rising with 180,974 Indians arriving in 2013. Over 200,000 Indians are estimated to have arrived in 2014. It was just 165,815 in 2012. Indians especially come to visit Pashupatinath Temple, Janakpur, Muktinath and other areas while the Chinese come to visit Lumbini. “We are preparing to bring Sichuan by seeing Chinese attraction,” president of Society Travels Ravi Chandra Singh says.

The aviation agreement between Nepal and China was reviewed last year and seat capacity increased to 525,400 a year from 145,000. The agreement with India is for 1.56 million passengers a year.

The NAC has been preparing to start flights to another two Indian destinations within three months of resuming flights to Delhi. It will operate flights to Bangalore and Mumbai after bringing the second Airbus A320 plane in the last week of April. It has been operating flights to Delhi from February 27 after a three-year gap.