Nepal’s Ministry of Civil Aviation has sent a proposal to resume flights to India.
Kathmandu:
Nepal’s Ministry of Civil Aviation has sent a proposal to resume flights to and from India from October 17, an official from Nepal’s COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) confirmed. .
Nepal had previously blocked all flights to and from India from March after a national lockdown was imposed in the Himalayan nation, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has offered to reopen its air link with India after a seven-month period, with adherence to a health protocol, Kamal Prasad said Bhattarai, responsible for tourism, ANI.
“We have proposed resuming flights from October 17th, the proposal has been sent to CCMC for review, but we have not yet received a response. Once they have decided on the date, we can specify the number of flights and permits to be issued. Mr. Bhattarai said in a telephone conversation.
Once the proposal is approved by CCMC, it will be sent to the cabinet meeting for the final decision on reopening flights. In addition to the proposal, the ministry also sent a health protocol, which would be similar for all passengers arriving in Nepal by air.
“CCMC or cabinet could also draft a new protocol, but from now on we have proposed the existing protocol, which would also be applicable to people arriving from different nations,” Bhattarai added.
Under existing protocol, a mandatory negative RT-PCR report for COVID-19, not exceeding 72 hours from the time of boarding the plane, would be required. Airlines would not be allowed to bring passengers who do not have an RT-PCR report and those with the report on the same flight.
Nepalese citizens arriving from India would be required to self-quarantine at home for 14 days, while foreigners would be required to stay in quarantine for seven days at the hotel.
