KATHMANDU, JANUARY 4

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has directed all domestic and international airline companies to strictly follow health safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Issuing a notice yesterday, CAAN warned airline companies to stringently follow safety measures or face flight suspension.

The authority issued the notice after airline companies were found to be violating the rules set by the government. CAAN has also sent letters to airline companies directing them to follow the rules.

The COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre had made it mandatory for international passengers to fill a travel form before boarding the flight. “However, some airline companies are not following the rules properly, which prompted us to issue the notice,” said CAAN official Gyanendra Bhul.

According to CCMC, passengers travelling to Nepal should fill the CCMC International Traveller Form before departure to Nepal.

The registration should be done only after they receive their air-tickets and COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test report. The PCR test report should not be older than 72 hours when the passenger enters Nepal.

“Passengers can fill the form via CCMC’s website and airline companies need to coordinate for this. Despite informing the airline companies beforehand, the rules are not being followed seriously,” Bhul said.

CAAN has also reminded airline companies with the notice not to carry passengers travelling from the United Kingdom.

“Airline companies have already been directed not to ferry any passenger from the UK as a new variant of the virus is spreading there. Any airline ignoring this direction will also face flight suspension,” reads the notice.

CAAN has mentioned all of the 31 international airline companies that fly to Nepal in the notice. It has also directed Tribhuvan International Airport to strictly check whether airline operators are following the rules or not.

Regular commercial flights started operated from and to Nepal in September after they were suspended in March to stem the spread of COVID. However, the number of flights has been reduced due to the pandemic.