Regular flights resume in Humla

By Rajan Rawat  Humla, June 7: Airline operators have resumed regular flights to and from Humla.

For two months, airlines had not been able to fly to the mountainous district in a scheduled way due to various reasons. There were days when the district’s Simkot Airport only saw a single flight or no flights at all. But on Monday, seven planes belonging to four carriers, Sita Air, Tara Air, Summit Air and Nepal Airlines Corporation, arrived at the airport. 

Mohan Giri, chief of the Simkot office of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that this was the first time since April that so many planes had arrived in one day.

The resumption of regular flights has brought a great relief to the district which is not connected to the rest of the country by roads, especially to those travelling out. It has also allowed daily goods to be brought from Nepalgunj and Surkhet. 

Construction materials for development works have also begun to be flown into Humla. The 80 porters, whose livelihoods depend on carrying goods from Simkot to various destinations, have also got back to work.

Airline companies claim that they have been able to resume Humla flights because of the availability of additional planes at Nepalgunj. 

Govinda Lama, Humla head of Summit Air, said that his airlines had 

dedicated two additional planes to fly from Nepalgunj to Humla and other mountainous districts of Karnali Province.

“Previously, most planes were used to fly to and from Kathmandu. As a result, we could only operate three to four flights a month to Simkot,” he said.