Sky has no limit for Nepal
Following the positive trend of international tourist arrivals Nepal is about to welcome three more international airlines in the winter. Nepal has witnessed growth by 35 percent in arrival of the tourists in last seven months of 2007.
Issuing a press release Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said, "This growth in tourist arrivals has been possible due to cooperation from Nepal loving tourists and ongoing peace process ratified by major political parties started since last year."
Dragon Air :
Dragonair, a Hong Kong based airlines announced relaunching of service to Kathmandu from December 2nd 2007. The airline is planning to operate four times a week by airbus 320 Aircraft.
Dragonair first started it’s service to Kathmandu in 1989. They resumed flight in 2000 for the second time. Dragonair is part of Cathay Pacific Group, providing seamless connectivity for passengers to more than 100 cities around the globe including USA.
Silk Air
Silk Air, the subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SA), is planning to operate flights to Kathmandu from Singapore from the end of this October. With its 140-seater Airbus A320 aircraft, the carrier aims to operate three flights a week in this sector.
There have been no direct air connections between Singapore and Kathmandu after Singapore Airlines pulled out their services five years ago. The inbound flights will cater to leisure traffic out of Singapore and facilitate easy connections for customers from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe, USA are important tourist generating markets for Nepal.
Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways is to launch four flights-a-week service from its Abu Dhabi home base to Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, in October.The flights will provide valuable link for 90,000 Nepalese nationals living in UAE as well as the growing demand from leisure travelers around the world
Kathmandu will join Etihad’s expanding network across Indian subcontinent which includes Dhaka, Delhi, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore.
Etihad will operate two cabin Airbus A330-200 between Abu Dhabi and Kathmandu configured to carry 262 passengers, with 22 in business class and 240 in economy.
Nepalese communities and other tourists flying to Nepal can be benefited by the operation of above airlines using following routes.
By Cathey Pacific and Dragon Air:
US cities via San Francisco/ Los Angeles/ New York to Hongkong and connecting flight to Kathmandu by Dragon air
By Ethiad Airways:
US cities via New York to Abu Dhabi and connecting flight to Kathmandu by Ehtiad Airways
By Singapore Airlines and Silk Air:
US cities via San Francisco/ Los Angeles/ New York to Singapore and connecting flight to Kathmandu by Silk air
More information available in www.travelhousenepal.com
Manoj Shrestha
MD- Travel House Nepal
