China govt preparing direct flights from three Chinese cities to Pokhara International Airport

KATHMANDU, Nov 17:China has expressed interest in flying Pokhara International Airport. China has expressed interest in flights from several Chinese cities and has provided concessional loans for airport building. A technical delegation from the Chinese government will visit Nepal to study flights from various places in China to Pokhara.

Requests for regular international flights from three Chinese cities have been made at Pokhara Airport, according to the Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN). Flights from Tibet's Lhasa, Chengdu, and Gonzhou to Pokhara are now in the progressed. For which the Chinese side will conduct study and make recommendations.

After that, regular flights will begin from three destinations. According to reports, the Airbus 319 plane model will be easier to fly to Pokhara Airport than the larger plane.

The Chinese side is positive for regular air service at Pokhara International Airport.The Chinese side has said that the airport is under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and will also support the operation of the airport.

Pokhara International Airport, which inaugurated on January 1, 2023, was built in 2016 with a loan of 215.965 million US dollars from China's Exim Bank. Despite the inauguration, no regular international flights have taken place.

China has become more proactive as questions continue to arise over internationally built infrastructure.  The  process will proceed when the Chinese technical team studies a direct flight from China to Pokhara International Airport on China's behalf.

The first international flight from the airport, which inaugurated on January 1, 2023, took place six months later, on June 21, 2023.

At the time, Chinese participants arrived in Pokhara via chartered aircraft from Sichuan, China, to compete in the Dragon Boat Race Festival. Then, on September 9, a chartered flight from Pokhara International Airport was taken by a Bhutanese plane, Druk Air.