Kohalpur, 19 September: Domestic flights, which have been closed for six months due to the Kovid-19 epidemic, will resume full capacity from September 21.
Booking has started on Friday after the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation gave permission to fly at full capacity by adopting health precautions.
Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines and other major domestic airlines have opened bookings after the flight will start on September 21. Airlines have said that bookings have been open since Friday.
At present, 50 percent of most airlines have booked. Yograj Kandel Sharma, the spokesperson of the Airline Operators Association, said that the booking of the airlines was satisfactory at the initial stage.
‘All types of domestic flights are starting from September 21. Booking at the initial stage is encouraging, flights will be increased based on passenger demand and market needs’, he said.
It is said that the airfare will not increase as the airlines will be able to carry passengers at full capacity. The association has stated that the domestic airlines will operate the services at the rates fixed by the government.
In the first week, only 25 percent of domestic airlines were allowed to fly. The company has stated that the number of flights will be increased soon. Buddha Air, which has made all commercial preparations for regular flights, will operate 20 to 22 flights in the first week.
Buddha has stated that it will fly to all his destinations. Bookings have been encouraging and the number of flights has been increasing in line with passenger demand, the company said. Chief of Air Safety and Spokesperson of Yati Airlines Sudarshan Bartaula said that the company has completed all the preparations for the domestic flight.
According to him, 50 percent of the airlines have been booked so far. Initially, there will be about 10 daily flights. At present, there will be two daily flights to Biratnagar, Pokhara and Chitwan and one each to other destinations.
Spokesperson Bartaula said that the number of flights will be gradually increased as per the demand of the passengers even though the number of flights has been reduced to 25 percent.
Despite the government’s decision to operate domestic flights from September 1, the airline operators had taken a stand that they should be able to carry passengers at full capacity.
The airlines have agreed to operate flights from 21 September after the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation decided on Friday to allow domestic flights to carry 100 percent passengers.
Initially, domestic flights were allowed to carry only 50 percent of the passengers. It has been decided to fly with 100 percent passengers after the businessmen protested.
Domestic and international flights were banned due to the nationwide curfew and recent bans imposed to control the epidemic.
International flights have been operational since September 1. Along with the increase in the number of international flights, public transport has also come into operation from September 17. The hotel and restaurant business has also started six months after the closure.
Meanwhile, the airline operators’ association issued a statement welcoming the government’s decision to open domestic flights and thanking them for resuming domestic flights in full compliance with the decision taken by the Ministry of Tourism on Friday.
