KATHMANDU: The government has decided to reopen international flights from September 1. The cabinet meeting held on Thursday made a decision to allow airlines to operate their international flights in Nepal.
Making the decisions of the cabinet meeting public on Friday, Yuba Raj Khatiwada, the government spokesperson, said that the airlines will be allowed to operate scheduled international flights to Nepal with certain conditions.
The decision to lift five-month long restriction on international flights comes is aimed at facilitating the return of Nepali stranded abroad. However, the international flights will be allowed to operate from certain countries where the access to coronavirus test is easy.
The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation will be preparing a schedule to bring passengers not exceeding 500 a day. The ministry plans to bring Nepali back from countries like Malaysia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Korea, Thailand, Japan, China, Australia, Europe and the USA.
Nepal citizens, staff of foreign missions in Nepal and those with urgent travel needs will be allowed to come to Nepal in those flights.
Following the arrival, all passengers will have to remain in hotel quarantine for seven days on their own expenses.
Though the government was allowing chartered flights to bring Nepali workers stranded in various countries, international flights were prohibited as part of containment measures to combat the spread of coronavirus.
Earlier on March 2, the government had decided to suspend all international flights. After four days of restriction on international flights, a nation-wide lockdown was imposed to stop the spread of novel coronavirus.
While the government lifted the lock-down on July 20, prohibition on international flights was still in place.
