Kathmandu, July 21
The government has decided to resume suspended domestic and international flights from August 17.
The flights were suspended in order to control the coronavirus outbreak in the country since late March. However, a cabinet meeting held on Monday evening decided to end the four-month-long suspension, informs Civil Aviation Minister Yogesh Bhattarai after the meeting.
The meeting has assigned the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to prepare criteria to operate flights safely.
For the past one and a half months, various chartered and repatriation flights have been operated to repatriate Nepalis stranded abroad due to the Covid-19 crisis. However, the government decided to resume regular flights considering international practices, Bhattarai says, adding it will also help the government take back the citizens stranded abroad more effectively.
Meanwhile, the meeting also discussed letting hotels resume their operation from July 30. The hotels are also shut since the beginning of the lockdown on March 24. A minister says the government is preparing to allow the hotels to reoperate soon though a final decision has not been made in this regard.
