Biratnagar-Pokhara flight comes to a halt over COVID-19 fears

The first inter-state direct flight between State 1 and Gandaki State has come to a halt since March. The historic flight linking Biratnagar and Pokhara was started from February 3. The last flight was on February 28.

”We couldn’t get enough passengers on our 18-seater Beechcraft 1900D aircraft from the beginning”, informed Kausal Bhandari, the Biratnagar station manager of the Buddha Air who started the maiden flight. He added, ”Coronavirus added insult to our injury.” Bhandari said seven Indian passengers from Pokhara cancelled their ticket on their last flight owing to coronavirus scare.

”We didn’t find foreigners from the beginning and when we were about to lure high-paying tourists from Pokhara to Biratnagar, Coronavirus came our way disrupting all flights,” said Bhandari.