Thai charter airline Phuket Air to begin Nepal flights November 2004 he Thai charter airline, Phuket Air, is to begin thrice-weekly Boeing 757 flights on the Bangkok-Kathmandu-Dubai route from January 17, 2005. The airline reportedly has fifth-freedom rights between Kathmandu and Dubai, and this is expected to provide a choice to passengers who now have to rely only on Nepal Airlines on that direct route. The Phuket Air flight is also expected to allow Gulf-based tourists to combine their Thai and Nepal holidays. New Paro - KTM - Delhi flights November 2004 Druk Air has started a new winter flight schedule offering early morning Kathmandu-Delhi flights on its new Airbus 319 on Sundays and Wednesdays. Delhi-Kathmandu flights are on Fridays and Saturdays. From 11 November-14 February the airline will go back to its BAe146 three times a week from Paro to Kathmandu and Kathmandu to Delhi on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays and back on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Finnair begins charter Helsinki-Kathmandu flights November 2004 Finnair has begun its charter flights to Nepal, directly linking the Nepali capital to the Finnish capital of Helsinki from November 03, 2004. Finnair's chartered flights are coordinated by the Kathmandu-based Yeti Travels, it is stated in the press communiqué The operation of chartered flight from Finland is believed to increase the number of Finnish tourists to Nepal. Last year, 813 Finnish tourists visited Nepal whereas in 2002 only 714 tourists came to Nepal. In 2000, 1460 Finnish tourists had visited Nepal. It took Finnair seven hours and forty minutes to arrive Kathmandu from Helsinki. Cosmic Air for domestic flights November 2004 Cosmic Air, the private sector airlines, had launched Fokker-100, the 105-seater jet plane, in domestic sectors to ferry passengers from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa and Biratnagar. Cosmic Air is operating two flights a day between Kathmandu and Biratnagar while there are daily flights being operated along Kathmandu-Bhairahawa and Kathmandu-Nepalgunj sectors. High airfares hurt tourism October 2004 Airfares to and from Nepal are keeping tourists away even if they are willing to brave the negative publicity and come for a trekking holiday. For the price of a roundtrip ticket from Osaka to Kathmandu, a Japanese tourist can fly to Europe and back. Fares from Hong Kong to Nepal are more expensive than from there to Los Angeles. September 2004 Air Sahara begins New Delhi flights Air Sahara, one of India's leading private airlines, inaugurated its flight to Kathmandu on 16 September 2004 after its 737-800 landed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. The airline has chosen a special late-afternoon departure slot with flights leaving New Delhi at 1315 (Indian time), arriving in Kathmandu at 1455 (Nepali time) and turning around at 1600. Martinair to resume flights Martinair, from the Netherlands, will resume its flights from October 3, 2004. Martinair directly flies from Amsterdam to Kathmandu. The resumption of Martinair flight will send a positive signal to the international community that Nepal is still a preferred destination. September 2004 Austrian Airlines to resume flights Austrian Airlines is to resume its operation in Nepal from September 16. Vienna-Kathmandu-Vienna flights remain suspended from mid-May this year due to slump in tourism thanks to the unending conflict. The Airlines is restarting the flights, twice a week, with its Airbus 340. New international airlines will launch services to Nepal If things go according to plan, two new international airlines will launch services to Nepal within the next two months. Bangladesh GMG Airlines and Phuket Airlines, a Thai private airlines, are set to operate flights to Nepal. Air Nepal International is all set to begin its international operations to the Middle East and Malaysia by the end of this year. The airline plans to extend its operations to other destinations in the future.

China Eastern is interested in a direct Kathmandu-Beijing flight and Philippine Airlines is negotiating a Manila stopover for flights to the US from Kathmandu.