Flights to Mustang resume after two months

By Amrit Prasad Paudel,Myagdi, Aug. 30: Flights on the Jomsom-Pokhara route resumed after 61 days on Thursday.  The air service connecting Pokhara and Jomsom was halted on June 29 this year. 

Summit Air conducted five flights to Mustang on Thursday. According to Mustang's Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bhojraj Pandey, these five flights brought 84 passengers to Mustang, including five Nepali citizens.

Keshab Lamsal, the Chief of Mustang's Civil Aviation Authority, confirmed that flights suspended since June 29, resumed on Thursday. 

He said that in the past, stray dogs caused problems by entering the airport grounds, but now a high fence has been erected around the airport to prevent animals from getting in. 

He said that except for the possibility of an animal entering through the main gate, the new arrangements ensure that no cattle, dogs or other animals enter the airport from other areas.

Mustang tourism entrepreneur Amrit Subedi expressed optimism that with the resumption of both the Benighat-Jomsom road and the Pokhara-Jomsom flights, there would be an increase in tourist's arrival in Mustang. 

He believed the resumption of flights would boost the influx of both domestic and foreign tourists to Mustang.

Generally, flights on the Pokhara-Jomsom route get suspended for two months each year during monsoon.

Former Member of Parliament from Mustang, Prem Prasad Tulachan, explained that this year as well, flights that were suspended with the onset of the monsoon resumed after the rain subsided.

According to Tulachan, all the flights today were fully booked, with a majority of the passengers being Indian tourists.