Nepal: Mired in controversies, China-funded Pokhara airport to finally witness daily intl flights
Kathmandu, June 17 (IANS) More than three-and-a-half years after its inauguration amid much fanfare, the China-funded Pokhara International Airport in western Nepal is finally set to witness daily international flights.
Dubai-based airline Flydubai has announced that it will begin daily direct flights between Dubai and Pokhara from September 23, becoming the first carrier to operate scheduled daily international services to Nepal’s tourism capital.
This will be the first time that any international airline has operated daily flights to and from the newly built international airport, which was formally inaugurated on January 1, 2023.
Earlier, Himalaya Airlines, a Nepal-China joint venture registered in Nepal, had been operating weekly direct flights on the Pokhara–Lhasa route beginning in March 2025. However, the airline discontinued the service in March this year, leaving the airport without regular international flights.
The development comes at a time when the China-funded project has been mired in corruption allegations, with several former ministers and a large number of senior officials facing corruption cases before the Special Court.
The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the anti-graft body, has filed corruption charges against six former ministers — one of whom is deceased — and several dozen senior officials in connection with alleged irregularities in the construction of the multimillion-dollar airport project. The project was built with financing of $215.96 million from the China Export-Import Bank and was executed by China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd., which is also among the defendants in the corruption case.
The Flydubai announcement has come as a sigh of relief for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the aviation regulator that developed the project with Chinese funding and is responsible for repaying the debt.
In a recent statement, Flydubai said that the direct flights will commence on September 23, 2026, operating from Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport (DXB).
“With the start of daily flights to Pokhara, Nepal’s second-largest city and tourism capital, Flydubai becomes the first carrier to serve this vital route directly from the United Arab Emirates,” the airline said. “The announcement marks a significant expansion of Flydubai’s presence in Nepal, where it has successfully operated since 2009 and carried approximately four million passengers to date.”
Gyanendra Bhul, Information Officer at CAAN, told IANS that Flydubai had been granted permission to operate daily flights for one month beginning September 23.
“The permission was granted for provisional scheduled flights,” he said. “The Dubai-based airline has promised to continue operations if it finds the route technically and commercially viable during the trial period.”
He added that CAAN would approve regular commercial operations if Flydubai decides to continue services based on its assessment. The direct connection between Dubai and Pokhara is expected to strengthen links between two important tourism destinations, as CAAN seeks to develop Pokhara International Airport into a tourism-focused gateway.
According to Bhul, no other international airline has currently applied to begin regular services at Pokhara International Airport.
“If Flydubai continues its operations at the airport, we hope other airlines will also be encouraged to launch flights to the city,” he said.
To attract international carriers, CAAN has waived landing, parking, navigation, security, ground-handling and other aeronautical charges at the airport for the past three years. However, these incentives have so far failed to attract significant international traffic.
A government study found that the airport faces load restrictions due to obstacles, runway length, temperature, pavement quality and other operational factors. These restrictions increase airlines’ operating costs and may have contributed to the airport’s failure to attract international carriers.
Due to the lack of international flights, many observers have described the airport as a “white elephant”.
Similarly, Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa, a South western city, has also struggled to attract and retain international services.
In the past, Qatar Airways, AirAsia, Jazeera Airways and Nepal Airlines operated international flights from Gautam Buddha International Airport. However, CAAN officials say that no international flights are currently operating from the airport.
–IANS
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