Finland has proposed signing a bilateral air service agreement (ASA) with Nepal.
The Finnair – the national flag carrier and largest airline of Finland that is headquartered in Vantaa on the premises of Helsinki Airport – has shown interest in operating direct flights to Kathmandu. A flight between Kathmandu and Helsinki is estimated to take around nine hours.
The government has received a formal proposal from the Finnish government to sign an ASA some three weeks ago, following talks with Finnair officials and the Finnish ambassador to Nepal. “Though it is in initial phase, we have been working on the proposal accordingly,” informed the Tourism Ministry.
The agreement is expected to be completed by July, after the ASA document is prepared and both the countries approve it.
Since, the number of Nepalis including students living in the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – is growing, though the Nepali airlines have not been able to fly to neither Europe nor Nordic countries as the European Commission has imposed ban on all airlines from Nepal to fly on the European sky in December 2013. The European Commission (EC) – the 28-nation bloc – had asked European operators and travel agents to inform European travellers who will have a right to reimbursement if they have booked a seat on a Nepali carrier as part of a journey to Nepal and decide not to use it. Nepal has been removed from the air safety list of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) but the European Commission has continued its ban on all Nepali airlines.
Nepal has signed ASA with 39 countries since 1963. Currently, 28 international airlines fly to Nepal from various destinations.
The Finnair – the national flag carrier and largest airline of Finland that is headquartered in Vantaa on the premises of Helsinki Airport – has shown interest in operating direct flights to Kathmandu. A flight between Kathmandu and Helsinki is estimated to take around nine hours.
The government has received a formal proposal from the Finnish government to sign an ASA some three weeks ago, following talks with Finnair officials and the Finnish ambassador to Nepal. “Though it is in initial phase, we have been working on the proposal accordingly,” informed the Tourism Ministry.
The agreement is expected to be completed by July, after the ASA document is prepared and both the countries approve it.
Since, the number of Nepalis including students living in the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – is growing, though the Nepali airlines have not been able to fly to neither Europe nor Nordic countries as the European Commission has imposed ban on all airlines from Nepal to fly on the European sky in December 2013. The European Commission (EC) – the 28-nation bloc – had asked European operators and travel agents to inform European travellers who will have a right to reimbursement if they have booked a seat on a Nepali carrier as part of a journey to Nepal and decide not to use it. Nepal has been removed from the air safety list of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) but the European Commission has continued its ban on all Nepali airlines.
Nepal has signed ASA with 39 countries since 1963. Currently, 28 international airlines fly to Nepal from various destinations.
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