Kathmandu,
Oct. 21:
Himalaya
Airlines has entered into to the Chinese market with its maiden flight to
Chongqing.
The
new flight service is an every-Thursday charter service from Chongqing to
Kathmandu.
Himalaya
is the only airline operating direct flights between the two cities.
The
inaugural flight departed from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on
Thursday evening, 18 October, and landed at Chongqing Jiangbei International
Airport (CKG).
The
return flight from Chongqing was made at midnight on Thursday.
“China is one of our target markets. We are
confident that this route will boost passenger traffic as we expect a good
demand from Chongqing, which has a sizeable population of affluent out-bound travelers,”
said Vijay Shrestha, Vice President – Administration of the company.
“Himalaya
will be instrumental in bringing more Chinese tourists to Nepal and helping the
tourism economy of both countries,” he added.
Chongqing,
one of the five centrally administered municipalities in China along with
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin, offers remarkable attractions to
visitors.
Chongqing
known for its rich history and cultural heritage, serves as an economic and manufacturing
center apart from being the transportation hub for Southwest China.
China
has placed Nepal as a new leisure destination, which is one of the driving reasons
for increased Chinese visitors into Nepal over the past two years, said the
company.
China
is the second largest tourist source market for Nepal with 109,497 visitors in
2018 (Jan to Sept), showing the growth of 48.8% over the same period of 2017.
According to Shrestha, Himalaya airline
plans to extend its focus on China connectivity by adding up other cities like Beijing,
Haikou and Nanchang in the next phase.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 October 2018.
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