KATHMANDU — The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has approved a month-long schedule for Nepali and foreign airlines to conduct international flights from and to 11 foreign destinations, an official said Wednesday.

According to a notice issued in the name of airlines, the CAAN has greenlighted 21 flights per week from and to 11 foreign destinations from July 1 to July 31.

It is the first time for Nepal to approve so many flights to so many destinations since the South Asian country went into lockdown in late April to contain a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per the CAAN’s notice, the designated airlines can conduct flights from and to New Delhi of India, Doha of Qatar, Istanbul of Turkey, Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates, Dammam of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Muscat of Oman, Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia and Narita of Japan.

CAAN’s spokesman Raj Kumar Chhetri told Xinhua that the flights were approved for a month following consultations with the airlines after the Nepali government decided to increase the number of destinations for the resumption of international flights.

Chhetri noted that there would be only one-way flights from Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu as the United Arab Emirates does not allow travel from Nepal for now. “Flights to Istanbul can take place only for transit purpose,” he added.

According to Chhetri, the airlines did not request slots for flights to South Korea and China in July.

Meanwhile, Nepal will resume its suspended domestic flights on Thursday, but with capacity cut by half for each flight, the CAAN said.

Nepal has eased the restrictive measures against COVID-19 while extending the lockdown in the Kathmandu Valley for the last two weeks due to declining cases.

– Xinhua