Nepal, India agree to establish new air entry points

Nepal and India agreed on Saturday to establish four new air entry points to enhance air connectivity between the two countries, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said.

Aviation authorities from the two South Asian neighbors agreed to establish the bi-directional (incoming and outgoing) air routes on Kathmandu-Biratnagar-Dhaka, Kathmandu-Janakpur-Kolkata and Kathmandu-Janakpur-Patna in the eastern part of Nepal and Kathmandu-Mahendranagar-Delhi in the western part, according to a statement issued by the CAAN.

“We agreed to establish four new entry points. The agreement has opened the door for both sides to conduct a safety assessment of the proposed routes,” Birendra Shrestha, spokesperson at the CAAN, told Xinhua on Saturday.

The spokesperson said the agreement was made in line with the consensus reached with the Indian side during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Nepal last month.

Tourism industry in the Himalayan nation is expected to be further expanded once these air entry routes become operational in the near future, experts said.