News And Events

Trekkers facing difficulty over Lukla -Ramechhap Flight

  June 23, 2019

A delegation of Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) led by President Mr. Nava Raj Dahal met with Secretary of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Mr. Mohan Krishna Sapkota on June 17, 2019 to discuss about the government’s recent decision to continue Lukla-Ramecchap flight and its impact on tourists and trekking entrepreneurs.

During the meeting, President Mr. Dahal said that if the government was serious about continuing the Ramechhap-Lukla flights then it should do so by completely halting Kathmandu- Lukla flights. He further said, “The government must discourage airline companies from practicing nepotism while offering seats in the ongoing Kathmandu-Lukla flights. Such cases have been widely prevalent in online bookings carried out from Kathmandu.” He also requested the Secretary to review and revise the cost of airfare between the two routes as flight duration is not the same.

Senior Vice President Mr. Khum Bahadur Subedi drew the attention of the Secretary to the unethical  practices of airline companies of giving priority and preference to individual online bookings over those handled by trekking companies. “Airline companies sometimes operate Kathmandu – Lukla flight without prior information/notice which creates confusion among trekkers and trekking entrepreneurs,” he added.

Secretary Sapkota remained positive towards the grievances of the delegation and has asked for an immediate joint meeting between Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation, TAAN, Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN)  to resolve the issues.

The delegation included Senior Vice President Mr. Khum Bahadur Subedi, Executive members Gopal Shrestha and P.K Sherpa.