The Embassy of Nepal, Canberra has started the process to send Nepalis back home on a chartered flight of Nepal Airlines which is scheduled to fly to Sydney with Australian citizens.
The Embassy of Nepal, with the Foreign Ministry, has written a letter to the Corona Prevention High-Level Committee requesting permission to send Nepalis who want to return home in Nepal.
According to the Ambassador of Nepal, Maheshraj Dahal, the letter will be presented at a meeting today. “Initially, other aircraft were said to fly Nepal and bring Australian citizens back. However, now Nepal Airlines is directly flying to Sydney so we are focusing on sending Nepalis who want to return home to Nepal,” he said.
Dahal added that coronavirus cases in Nepal were imported from those who arrived abroad and this has worried the citizens. Hence, the government hasn’t allowed foreign entry into Nepal for the time being, he said.
“If our request is approved, we will focus on sending people who are in a state of emergencies such as visa expiry or those who have a funeral to attend,” said Dahal.
Australian Embassy in Nepal had decided to use a flight of Qatar Airways to rescue Australian citizens from Nepal. However, the flight was not fixed as the rate was estimated 4,000 AUD. Following which, a Nepal Airlines aircraft was assigned at the rate of 1,800 USD per ticket. If the government approves of the flight, Nepalis returning from Sydney would have to pay the same amount.
