Sri Lankan Airlines to connect Colombo and Kathmandu with direct flights from Tuesday

Sri Lankan Airlines is connecting Colombo with Kathmandu with its direct flights from Tuesday.

Sri Lankan ambassador to Nepal Himalee Arunatilaka tweeted that Sri Lankan Airlines is starting direct flights between Colombo and Kathmandu starting August 31. "To all those friends in Nepal, who have been asking me when direct flights will starts; it's happening on 31 August 2021," she tweeted today.

The airline flies twice a week connecting the island nation to the Himalayan nation. The direct flight between the two countries is expected to boost tourism and enhance people-to-people contact between the two countries. The direct flight is expected to promote Buddhist pilgrimage between the two countries once the Covid-19 situation becomes normal. "The starting fare begins from $599 one-way," according to the Zenith Travels, the general sales agent of the airline in Kathmandu.

The two capitals of the South Asian nations have been connected after a hiatus of four decades though this is the first time a Sri Lankan Airlines is connecting Colombo with Kathmandu with its direct commercial flights.

The then Royal Nepal Airlines (RNAC) and current Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) used to operate regular direct flights on Kathmandu-Colombo-Kathmandu sector some four decades ago during the 1980s. But the flights were suspended as they were not commercially viable.

Similarly, Himalaya Airlines also used to connect Kathmandu with Colombo for a brief period in 2016, and this too stopped as the flights were not commercially viable due to low passenger volume. In March 2015, Mihin Lanka also planned to start direct flights between Colombo and Kathmandu but the proposed flights could not start.

In 2019 -- before the Covid-19 pandemic -- Nepal received 1.2 million international tourists, and out of the total, some 55,869 Sri Lankan tourists visited Nepal, according to Tourism Ministry. "In 2018, some 69,640 Sri Lankan tourists visited Nepal."

Likewise, some 97.5 per cent of the Sri Lankan visitors entered Nepal overland from Bhairahawa to visit Buddhist sites in Lumbini. Once the Gautam Buddha Airport in Lumbini us operational, it is expected to connect Colombo and Lumbini for the Buddhist tourists from Lanka.

"The civil aviation regulator has approved the Sri Lankan Airlines flights effective from August 31," the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) confirmed. "Sri Lankan Airlines will operate 158-seater Airbus A320 aircraft that will arrive at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at 9:40 am and depart to Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Colombo at 10:40 am."

The passengers need to furnish evidence of hotel booking for 7 days quarantine before boarding the flight to Nepal. Likewise, they will require a negative PCR test report for Covid-19, according to the health protocal. "The test should be conducted 72 hours prior to arrival."

Likewise, as per the travel protocol of Sri Lanka, fully vaccinated travellers are not required to stay in quarantine. They are required to stay at a certified safe and secure hotel until the on-arrival PCR test is performed -- for some 24 hours to 48 hours.