KATHMANDU: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Home Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who is presently on a visit to China, has urged the Chinese side for increasing the number of flights to Nepal.

During his meeting with Sichuan Airlines Chair Ma Xu Lun, Shrestha urged the company to increase the number of Chengdu-Kathmandu flights and to operate regular flights along the Chengdu-Pokhara and Chengdu-Bhairahawa airports.

“Once the air connectivity between the two nations gets enhanced, the bilateral ties will further deepen. Prior to this, Chengdu-Lhasa-Kathmandu were connected by a flight,” he stated.

DPM Shrestha further said, “Now Chengdu and Kathmandu see the operation of a direct flight. The ties between the two countries would further increase if the number of Chengdu-Kathmandu flights could be increased and the flight to Bhairawaha and Pokhara could be regularized.”

He utilized the forum to say that Nepal prioritized the tourism industry in addition to agriculture and water resources and the expansion of air connectivity between the two neighbors would help boost the number of Chinese tourists in Nepal.

On the occasion, the Sichuan Province Chair reminded the recent travel of National Assembly (NA) Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina from Chengdu to Pokhara airport via a direct chartered flight of Sichuan Airlines.

He said they were ready to expand the airlines’ markets.

(Ashok Ghimire/RSS)