Regional International Airport Row: All flights to and from Pokhara cancelled today

KATHMANDU, AUG 23 -

Private air operators have cancelled all scheduled flights on the Kathmandu-Pokhara, Pokhara-Manang and Pokhara-Jomsom routes for Thursday, in line with the appeal made by the locals of Pokhara to support their agitation.

Pokhara locals have been on agitation for the last four days, demanding that that the government assure the construction of the much-publicised Regional International Airport in Pokhara.

Pokhara sees 45 take-offs and landing every day on an average during the July-August period. The cancellation of flights is likely to affect hundreds of travellers, but the airlines said they had no other options, but to honouring locals’ sentiments. Pokhara attracts around 40 percent of the tourists visiting Nepal.

Some operators, however, said they were compelled to cancel their flights due to security reasons. “An AOAN meeting on Wednesday decided to halt air services (excluding rescue operations) after the government did not respond to the association’s call to ensure safety,” said Yog Raj Kandel, a member of the Airlines Operators’ Association of Nepal. Pokhara is one of the major profit earning sectors for private carriers. Buddha Air, which operates five scheduled flights to Pokhara daily, has estimated a loss of $10,000 due to the cancellation of the flights. On an average, Buddha Air flies 477 passengers

(in and out) from Pokhara. “The issue is related to the sentiments of Pokhara residents and we cannot hurt them,” said a Buddha Air official.

Ankur Rana, reservation manager at Yeti Airlines, said the cancelation would result in a big loss for them. Yeti operates seven flights daily on the routes and flies 400 passengers to and from Pokhara.

Source: The Kathmandu Post