KATHMANDU: Nepal has extended the suspension of international flights till April 30 to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and also decided to renew visas of tourists stranded amidst the lockdown in the country free of cost.
A high-level government coordination committee took the decisions on Tuesday as part of the measures to combat the fast-spreading disease that has infected nine people in the country.
However, the government is undecided over whether to resume the domestic flights.
The Nepal government on Monday also extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown till April 15.
Tourists, whose visas expired after the suspension of international flights since March 22, will not have to pay any fee for extension of their visa.
The government has directed us to not levy visa-related fees for the time being, said Sagar Acharya, the chief immigration officer at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
Now onward, we will not be charging any fee as per the directive received on Tuesday from the Ministry of Home Affairs, he said.
The government imposed a ban on commercial domestic and international flights from March 22 to 31, which was later extended till April 15 amid fears of growing infections.
It has now been further extended till April 30.
The government, however, allowed operation of special flights by Kathmandu-based diplomatic missions for repatriation of their citizens.
According to the TIA immigration office, more than 2,500 foreigners have left for their home countries in chartered flights since the imposition of lockdown in the country.
According to Dhananjaya Regmi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), some 1,360 tourists are stranded in places like Lukla and Pokhara.
Our staffers have raised funds to help tourists who have run out of money and are unable to return home, he said.
The NTB has rescued over 1,700 tourists who were stranded at different parts of the country over the past two weeks.