Ministry awaits decision by CCMC to resume domestic flights

KATHMANDU: Airlines are requesting to operate domestic flights, which have been suspended due to the second wave of the COVID pandemic. They called on the government to operate the flights, saying that the company had suffered huge losses due to the long shutdown.

“We are incurring a daily loss of Rs 10 million,” said Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesperson for Yeti Airlines. “The income is zero, the bank loan has to be repaid, and now the company is worried about how to survive,” he explained.

He said that many people would lose their jobs if there comes a situation where the company has to close down.

The situation is similar in Buddha Air. Stating that they are incurring a daily loss of Rs 20 million, Buddha Air Spokesperson Ganesh Dhakal said, “It will be difficult to pay the salaries of the employees after Dashain. Therefore, we have urged the government to operate domestic flights immediately.”

The airline company has written to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to open domestic flights from 15th June (today). The Ministry of Tourism has sent the letter to the COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC). The decision will be taken as per the CCMC’s recommendation, the Ministry said.

Last year, domestic flights were closed for six months due to the lockdown. The airline had incurred a loss of billions of rupees.

The domestic airline has stated that it is ready to fly by adopting all the health standards required by the CCMC.