Kathmandu, April 12 Himalaya Airlines, a Nepal-China joint venture airline, launched its first commercial flight with a direct flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka, today. The flight was planned considering the special occasion of celebrating Nepali New Year 2073 BS, as per a media release. The programme of launching the flight service was jointly inaugurated by Chinese Ambassador Wu Chuntai, Sri Lankan Ambassador W M Senevirathna and Cheng Yiru, chairman of Tibet Airlines. The airlines intends to help promote tourism between Nepal and Sri Lanka and enhance people-to-people contact between the two countries. Carrying the passengers to Colombo, the new Airbus 320-214 took off from the Tribhuvan International Airport today at 9:05am local time. The airline had offered a round trip fare of Rs 55,000 for business class and Rs 35,000 for economy class.