November 9: The Government of Nepal is preparing to sign a bilateral agreement with the US in December to start direct flights between the two countries. The Nepal Civil Aviation Authority is making necessary preparations for direct flights to the US after receiving approval from the cabinet meeting a few days ago.

CAAN Spokesperson Jagannath Niraula informed that a bilateral agreement for direct flights between the two countries will be signed by December. This agreement will pave way for direct flights between Kathmandu and the USA. It will allow airliners from Nepal, the US and other countries to operate direct flights between Kathmandu and the United States.

Spokesperson Niraula said that direct flights will help the country earn more foreign currency, and bring in more tourists. Also, since the number of Nepalis living in the USA is increasing, the agreement will also ease their movement, the authority said. 

Currently, passengers travelling to the USA from Nepal have to flying through India, Singapore, Qatar, Dubai, Turkey, Bangkok etc.

Niraula said that the direct flight agreement will strengthen the relationship between the two countries. According to the Nepal Tourism Statistics 2020, Americans are among the key tourists visiting Nepal. According to the statistics, about 100,000 American tourists visit Nepal annually. Likewise, the number of tourists coming from America is gradually increasing, the data show.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, 42,875 tourists from America visited Nepal in 2011. This number increased to 93,218 in 2019 before the onset of Covid-19. In the year 2020, during the pandemic, 17,767 American tourists visited Nepal.

Likewise, 63, 018 American tourists visited Nepal in the first ten months of 2022.

Ramesh Thapa, president of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), said that not only tourists but also Nepalis living in America will benefit from the agreement. 

"Currently, tourists travelling to Nepal from the US have to pay two-way fares ranging from USD 2,000 to 2,500," Thapa said, adding, “Direct flights between the US and Nepal will likely reduce the fare and also travel  time.”