KATHMANDU: The government has begun evacuating its nationals stranded in various countries due to coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

A Nepal Airlines aircraft is set to fly home Nepalis from Dhaka, Bangladesh this afternoon. The government had decided to rescue about 30,000 Nepalis in the first phase in chartered flights.

Aircraft from NAC and Himalaya Airlines have been assigned with the task of bringing back stranded Nepalis. So far, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has approved 24 NAC flights and 19 flights of Himalayan airlines.

Himalayan Airlines is designated to fly Nepalis in from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UAE, Kuwait, among other countries.

Meanwhile the national flag carrier will fly to Bangladesh, the Maldives, Malaysia, Qatar, Australia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Kuwait, Korea, Oman and Bahrain.

The Ministry, in response to widespread complaints, has reviewed the airfare in consultation with the two companies.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, as much as 20 per cent concession has been offered after revision.