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Pokhara International Airport has its first international flight with the A319 aircraft of Sichuan Airlines landing at the airport on Wednesday morning. After it was formally inaugurated on 1 Jan 2023, by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, it is the first time that the airport received an international flight. The plane carrying some Nepali and Chinese officials and Chinese players to take part in the Nepal-China Friendship Dragon Boat Race Festival to be organized in Pokhara landed at 9:06 am on Wednesday morning, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). The plane was welcomed with a water cannon salute. Sichuan Airlines conducted a chartered flight from Chengdu of Sichuan Province to Pokhara. The delay in conducting international flights and the report about its infeasibility to land narrow-body planes such as Airbus A320 and A319 in their full load capacity raised questions about the massive investment to build this airport. The project was built by taking $215.96m in loans from the China Exim Bank. The landing of A319 aircraft with 70 passengers and cargo loads at Pokhara International Airport showed that the airport is suitable for landing the type of aircraft the airport was supposed to accommodate,” said a senior official of CAAN. “The landing of the chartered flight also confirmed that equipment installed in the airport is in good condition and the geography of Pokhara can accommodate the jets that we envisioned.” Earlier media reports suggested that the airport has a payload issue as planes like Airbus A320 and A319 could not land there at their full capacity. Airports have load restrictions determined by obstacles, runway length, temperature, quality, and other factors. Load restrictions contribute to the rise in the operating cost of airlines. The first successful landing of the aircraft of Sichuan Airlines has not yet erased the doubt about the commercial viability to operate flights from and to this airport which is surrounded by high hills. Other international airlines are yet to come up with their plan to operate international flights from and to this airport. Even the state-owned Nepal Airlines is yet to announce a plan to operate its international flights from Pokhara. After the landing of a plane run by Sichuan Airlines, Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Chairperson of National Assembly said that he, during his recent China visit, had insisted that the Chinese side start the first international flight in this airport as it is the Chinese-aided project. Timilsina stressed the need for regular flights to and from this airport while pointing out that operating flights should also be commercially viable. “All the stakeholders should work together to ensure regular international flights,” he said, adding that the federal government, Pokhara Metropolitan City, and tourism entrepreneurs should also make common efforts for the purpose. CAAN has not yet confirmed when the regular international flights will be conducted to and from this airport. In a statement posted on social media, the CAAN said, “Discussions with the relevant parties are underway to establish regular flights in the future.” A senior official of CAAN said that regular fights could start within a few months. “We hope to see increased regular flights from and to the Pokhara International Airport in September and October when foreign tourists visit Nepal in large numbers,” the official said. “ Nepal Airlines and Himalaya Airlines are also showing interest in conducting international flights.”

The Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has drawn the attention of the finance minister towards the air tickets becoming expensive due to the imposition of VAT on airfare by the government. A NATTA delegation led by its president Ramesh Thapa met Finance Minister Prakash Saaran Mahat on Wednesday and called on the government to withdraw its decision to levy value added tax (VAT) on air tickets, citing that imposition of VAT on airfare through the budget for fiscal year 2023-24 has made the air tickets costlier. "As both the domestic and international airfare in Nepal are already expensive at present, the airfare would become exorbitantly expensive with the addition of VAT in the present situation, and there is possibility of tourist arrivals falling down and the prospective foreign tourists opting for traveling to airports in Bagdogara, Gorakhpur among other airports in India due to their proximity to the Nepal border and the high airfare in Nepal," Thapa said. He argued that the decision of imposing VAT on airfare would have a serious impact on the government's goal of bringing more than a million tourists to Nepal in the upcoming fiscal year. NATTA said imposition of VAT only in Nepal would make the air tickets issued by Nepali travel agencies more expensive while it would be cheaper booking tickets online and in foreign countries. This will impel foreign tourists to book air tickets from foreign countries, resulting in loss of foreign currency earning and an increased risk of the government losing the tax it has been getting from the travel agencies and the loss of employment provided by the latter. NATTA has also called for a change in the provision of the Nepali citizen having to purchase a package tour from the foreign currency facility that one gets while going on a foreign tour. In the meeting, Finance Minister Mahat expressed the commitment that the government would take measures so that the tourism entrepreneurs would not face problems for the development of the tourism sector in Nepal.

Non-life insurance companies have resumed issuing agri-insurance policies after the government promised to release the remaining portion of agricultural and livestock insurance subsidies. The companies had suspended the agri-insurance from the second week of May after the government failed to release the subsidy amount. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and the Nepal Insurers' Association (NIA), the umbrella organization of non-life insurance companies in the country, reached an agreement on Tuesday with the former agreeing to release the subsidy amount immediately. During a meeting with Agriculture Minister Beduram Bhusal on Tuesday, the ministry urged the association to resume the agri-insurance business. Chunky Chhetry, President of NIA said that insurance companies have resumed the agri-insurance business from Wednesday. “We have started issuing new policies after the government's commitment to release the subsidy amount,” said Chhetry. The government has an outstanding amount of Rs 2.94bn to be paid in subsidies. Of which, the Agriculture Ministry released Rs 740m in the first week of June. However, the insurance companies were adamant that they would not restart agri-insurance until the dues are not released. Now, the government has promised to release Rs 400m in the next few days. “The government has promised to pay Rs 400m in the next few days and the remaining dues by mid-July,” said Chhetry. The government has been providing an 80 percent subsidy on agricultural insurance premiums. In a bid to cover the damages and losses to agriculture, the government introduced the Agriculture and Livestock Insurance Program in the fiscal year 2013/2014. In the initial phase, the government provided a 50 percent subsidy on the premium of the insurance. The premium was later increased to 75 percent, and currently, it is 80 percent. Now, the farmers have to pay Rs 20 out of Rs 100 premium while insuring their crops and livestock. The insurance companies will get the rest Rs 80 from the government. The statistics of NIA show the business of agriculture insurance has increased by 417.55 percent in the first half of FY 2022/23. The non-life insurance companies have collected Rs 1.09 billion in insurance premiums from agriculture insurance in the first six months of the current fiscal compared to Rs 211.13m during the same period of the last fiscal year. The insurers have sold 82,746 agricultural insurance policies in the current fiscal year.

The Hetauda Cement Factory that remained closed for the past two months resumed production this morning. The Factory has also started producing clinkers, it has been learnt. The Factory was closed after some equipment at its oven broke down and due to a lack of coal, said the Factory management. The Factory has imported quality coal from India, Indonesia and Bhutan after calling for bidding, said the Factory’s General Manager Basanta Raj Pandey. So far, 1,800 metric tons of coal has been supplied in the first and second installments, adding that remaining 1,200 metric tonnes will be imported within one month. Meanwhile, the government-owned cement Factory has incurred a loss of over Rs 111 million by the end of the current fiscal year, 2022/23. So far, it has incurred a total loss of Rs 900 million, said the management.