Manthali-Lukla direct flights begin

Manthali (Ramechhap)- With the start of trekking and mountaineering season, daily flights to Lukla have started from Ramechhap’s Manthali Airport. Tara Air, Summit Air and Sita Air started regular flights to Solukhumbu’s Lukla from today.

It is believed that operation of flights from Manthali to Lukla and vice-versa will make the travel of tourists to the gateway of Mt Everest easier. Since the Tribhuvan International Airport is busy during the tourist season, airlines bring tourists to Manthali and fly them to Lukla to avoid traffic jams.

A large number of foreign tourists come twice a year to Lukla for hiking and climbing. Previously, there used to be a large number of tourists visiting Khumbu region from the first week of October to the first week of November. Praveen Subedi, Ramechhap in-charge of Tara Air, said that the number of tourists visiting from March to May this year is very high.

He says that even though the flight started on last Friday, flights were not operated that day due to bad weather. Pooja Thapa, Acting Chief at the Office of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Ramechhap, said that regular flights have been started from today with the improvement in the weather. It is further shared that supply of aviation fuel has been arranged in Manthali.