Pilgrims headed to Kailash Mansarovar from New Delhi will now be able to fly directly to one of its key entry points at Nepalgunj in Nepal and avoid the 11-hour drive from Kathmandu, which is currently the only airport in the Himalayan state with direct flights from the Indian capital.
“The Ministry of Civil Aviation has given an in-principal nod for an air route enabling direct flights between Nepalgunj and New Delhi,” a senior government official said on the condition of anonymity.
“We are yet to receive an approval, but we are very positive,” Director-General of Nepal Civil Aviation Authority Sanjiv Gautam told The Hindu on telephone. He met authorities from the Ministry of Civil Aviation on the sidelines of the two-day Global Aviation Summit held in Mumbai earlier this week.
“The direct flights will make it easy for Indian tourists planning to visit Kailash Mansarovar, besides it will be beneficial for a number of people from western Nepal who have to either travel via Kathmandu or take rural transport via Uttar Pradesh to reach Delhi,” Mr. Gautam added.
The airport at Nepalgunj can handle small planes such as ATRs and CRJ700 series.
He said that if an airline wishes to connect the two cities, the CAA can grant permissions immediately following the Indian government’s approval, but a decision on when the flight operations will commence will depend on an airline’s business plans and market activities.
The airlines will, however, first have to get a slot at New Delhi’s busy Indira Gandhi International airport. This was earlier refused to Buddh Air, which is keen to operationalise the route.
Nepalganj-Simikot-Hilsa route is among the routes taken by pilgrims to reach Mansarovar.
Published - January 17, 2019 10:31 pm IST
