KATHMANDU, JUNE 12

More than 10,000 people stranded in the country due to travel restrictions have been repatriated during the lockdown.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), a total of 10,423 nationals from different countries stranded in Nepal departed for their respective countries as of June 10.

Among them, 9,635 were foreigners, while 788 were Nepalis who had acquired foreign citizenship, Nepali migrant workers as well as students.

After the government imposed the nationwide lockdown on March 24, a large number of foreigners had been stranded here.

However, because of the initiative of the respective embassies and Nepal Tourism Board, a number of tourists were rescued from across the country and sent back to their home countries.

During the lockdown period, a total of 117 flights were conducted — 37 cargo flights and 80 passenger flights.

Among domestic airline companies, Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) conducted 38 flights, of which 13 were cargo flights and 25 were passenger flights.

Likewise, Himalaya Airlines conducted 21 cargo flights, Buddha Air conducted four passenger flights and Shree Airlines conducted five flights for dead body rescue, cargo flights and one evacuation flight.

Meanwhile, among the foreign airline companies, Qatar Airways conducted 16 flights, while other airline companies also conducted passenger and cargo flights during this lockdown period.

Although the government has suspended all domestic and international flights till June 30, rescue and cargo flights are being conducted with special permission from Nepal government.

Amid this, a total of 654 passengers have reached Nepal via air route so far.

As per CAAN, 26 passengers from Myanmar, 168 from the United Arab Emirates, 11 from Australia, seven from Japan and 442 from Kuwait have come to the country during the lockdown.

As the government has begun conducting repatriation flights to bring Nepalis stranded across the world, more people are likely to come home over the next two weeks.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 13, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.