KATHMANDU, JULY 10

The government today repatriated 1,611 stranded people from different countries through nine different chartered flights.

As per the statistics provided by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal office at the Tribhuvan International Airport, these people were evacuated via flights of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), Himalaya Airlines, Korean Air, Air Arabia, SalamAir and Malindo Air.

NAC today repatriated 149 Nepalis from Doha and 247 from Riyadh while Himalaya Airlines evacuated 154 Nepalis from Dammam, 151 Nepalis from Kuwait and 146 from Kuala Lumpur.

Similarly, a flight of Korean Air today repatriated 248 Nepalis from South Korea and one flight of Air Arabia evacuated 167 Nepalis from Sharjah. Likewise, one flight of SalamAir repatriated 179 Nepalis from Muscat while another flight of Malindo Air evacuated 170 Nepalis from Kuala Lumpur.

The government, which is on a spree to evacuate Nepalis stranded in different countries on priority basis, is conducting 14 flights to various international destinations to repatriate Nepalis on Saturday. However, the government plans to halt the repatriation process from July 12.

As per officials at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCT- CA), preparations are underway to suspend the repatriation process of Nepalis especially after a number of pilots and cabin crew of NAC were infected by the COVID-19. “The government will review repatriation flights carried out so far and take necessary decision,” said a MoCTCA source seeking anonymity.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 11, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.