Kathmandu, October 24: Flydubai has completed one month of operating regular international flights to and from Pokhara International Airport. The airline began regular flights on the Pokhara–Dubai route on September 23.
During the first month, the airline operated 30 flights, carrying a total of 6,362 passengers—4,521 from Dubai to Pokhara and 1,841 from Pokhara to Dubai, said Jagannath Niraula, General Manager of the Civil Aviation Office at Pokhara International Airport. According to him, the first month of international operations has been encouraging.
“Passenger arrivals from Dubai have increased due to Nepal’s major festivals, Dashain and Tihar, and the number of passengers departing from Pokhara has also been rising. With everyone’s support and collective efforts, we can hope to make international flights from Pokhara Airport regular and sustainable in the long term. The government and private sector should work together to promote these services,” General Manager Niraula said.
Dhan Raj Acharya, Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City, described the achievements of the first month of regular flights as encouraging and stressed the need to increase the number of passengers travelling from Pokhara to Dubai. He thanked Flydubai’s management team for opening ticket bookings through October 2027 to ensure the continuation of the Pokhara–Dubai service.
“Although the number of passengers travelling from Dubai to Pokhara is satisfactory, increasing the number of passengers flying from Pokhara to Dubai would make the service more effective and sustainable. We have urged residents of Pokhara and Gandaki Province, tourism entrepreneurs, travel agencies, hotel operators, industrialists and the private sector to undertake international journeys from Pokhara whenever possible,” Mayor Acharya said.
He also urged individuals, families, businesses and institutions to begin their travel from Pokhara and encouraged travel companies to offer tour packages departing from Pokhara to international destinations.
Noting that passengers can travel to more than 300 destinations worldwide on a single ticket through Flydubai and its partner airline, Emirates, Mayor Acharya urged travellers to use Pokhara not only as a departure point for Dubai but also for journeys to various international cities connected through Dubai.
The resumption of regular international flights from Pokhara after a long hiatus is expected to increase the utilisation of Pokhara International Airport and contribute positively to tourism, trade, employment and overall regional economic development.
Inaugurated on January 1, 2023 (Poush 17, 2079 BS), Pokhara International Airport had remained without regular international flights for a long period. Apart from occasional international charter flights, the airport had largely been limited to domestic operations. Following the launch of Flydubai’s service, other airlines have also shown interest in operating flights to Pokhara.
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