If things go according to plan, two new international airlines will launch services to Nepal within the next two months. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Bangladesh GMG Airlines and Phuket Airlines, a Thai private airlines, are set to operate flights to Nepal. "We have received a formal application from Bangladesh GMG to operate a daily flight on Kathmandu-Dhaka sector," said Nagendra Ghimire, Director General of the CAAN. He said that the preparations are on to grant permission to GMG airlines and final decision will be taken soon.

Likewise, Phuket Airlines also submitted an application with the CAAN, requesting permission to begin flights on the sector from October. "However, we were unable to grant permission to Phuket Airlines, as it came without meeting the required legal provisions," said Ghimire. In accordance with the existing rules, the aspirant international airlines first have to receive permission from its government before coming to submit an application with the CAAN. Ghimire said that the CAAN has asked it to come up with approval of Thailand's government. "The airlines had directly approached the CAAN, as it was unaware of the rules," he said. He further added that it has agreed to come with the legal provision. "Once we receive application with the approval of the Thailand government in this respect, we will grant Phuket with license," he said. The recent agreement made between Nepal and Thailand on civil aviation had paved the way for it to come to Nepal. As per the agreement, private airlines are also allowed to operate flights between two countries. The agreement also allows any Thai airline to operate eleven flights on the sector a week. In the view of rapid development of Thailand as a major tourist hub in the world, operation of the airlines is expected to boost ailing tourism industry of the country.


"It is an encouraging boost for tourism industry to have operation of new airlines," said Tek Bahadur Dangi, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board. He said that their operations pave the way for Nepal to jointly launch marketing campaigns in the international sector. "This will substantially help increase the tourist arrivals in the country," he said. He also viewed that interest of international airlines to operate flights to Nepal indicates that Nepal has tremendous tourism potentials. The government had recently introduced a policy to permit maximum airlines to operate flights to the country. "Lack of air tickets is standing an impediment on the way to grow tourism industry. So, we have decided to attract new international airlines to meet surging demand for air tickets," said Medini Sharma, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism.

OTHER NEWS

• Nepali hostages meet tragic end: In an inexplicably tragic act, an Iraqi radical Muslim group that held 12 Nepalis captive since August 20 has murdered all the hostages. A video footage posted in the website of the Army of Ansar al-Sunna shows a masked man slitting the throat of a blindfolded man lying on the ground, while other footage showed a man with a rifle shooting at the back of the heads of the other 11 hostages.
  
  
• Nation mourns death of Nepalis killed in Iraq: The whole nation grieved the gruesome killing of twelve Nepalis in Iraq with protest rallies and bandas. The bazaars of Kapilvastu, including its headquarters, remained closed throughout the day. Although Mahendra Highway witnessed occasional vehicular movement, rental vehicles were totally off the road in other areas throughout the morning. Likewise, students of Nepal Adarsha Secondary School in the far-western part of the district took out a rally protesting the Iraqi killings, and also burnt tire on Mahendra Highway, blocking the road for sometime.
  
  
• Qatar, Sahara, PIA suspend flights: Qatar Airways suspended all of its flights to Nepal for a week and Pakistan International Airlines for indefinite period after the attack on their offices in the capital on Wednesday. Qatar airways said it diverted its Kathmandu-bound flight to Doha from Malaysia. Similarly, Air Sahara suspended its Delhi-Kathmandu inaugural flights following violent protests in Kathmandu after the killings of 12 Nepalis in Iraq.
  
  
• Nepal's growth performance: Nepal is now at a critical juncture facing formidable economic, social, and political challenges. Since 1965 and 2001, Nepal had a per capita income growth rate of 1.7% and a GDP growth rate of around 4% - one of the slowest growing developing countries. Such low economic growth rate against an annual population growth of 2.3 % reflects the serious challenge Nepal faces in reducing poverty.
  
  
  

By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu