Kathmandu, May 2

Following the nationwide lockdown was imposed by the government, Qatar Airways conducted its 11th repatriation flight today from Nepal.

A Qatar Airways’ aircraft left for Paris, the capital of France, carrying 309 passengers from 54 countries, including Nepal.

The aircraft will reach Paris via Doha, Qatar. Among the total number of passengers 110 were French nationals.

Along with French nationals there are Africans, Israelis, Americans, Germans, Portuguese, Canadians and others, according to French Ambassador to Nepal Francois Xavier Leger.

Although the country is in a lockdown, repatriation, rescue, cargo and emergency flights are being conducted regularly. Along with this, around 4,500 tourists who had been stranded in Nepal after the government imposed a lockdown on March 24 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus have been repatriated so far.

While many stranded tourists are being repatriated by their respective embassies a few others are still stranded here even though they want to go back home. A few days back, Chinese tourists had reached Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) seeking its support to return home after they were refused support by their embassy.

“The embassy has requested all the tourists to stay safe and remain wherever they are staying at the moment. It may take further decision once the Nepal government lifts the lockdown,” said Sudhan Subedi, NTB official.

It is not only the Chinese nationals but also Indian and Canadian tourists who have been frequently requesting their respective governments to repatriate them home. As per the Canadian nationals, the Canadian Embassy has stated that the number of stranded Canadian nationals in Nepal is very less due to which the embassy is yet to take any decision. Meanwhile, the Australian Embassy has also cancelled its third flight scheduled for May 15.

“Due to insufficient interest in the May 6 flight to Sydney, the Australian Embassy is not continuing discussions with Nepal Airlines Corporation for a flight on May 15,” reads a notice issued by the Australian Embassy.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 3, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.