SATV Mar. 9, Kathmandu: A China-built airport in Nepal’s second-largest town is set for its first scheduled international flight, two years after its inauguration raised hopes of attracting more carriers to fly directly to Pokhara.

Himalaya Airlines will launch a weekly flight from Pokhara International Airport to Lhasa on March 31, marking a significant milestone for the airport. In a statement on Monday, the airline said the flight would improve connectivity between the countries and attract more Chinese tourists to Nepal.

Tourism entrepreneurs in Pokhara, desperate for a commercial international flight from the new airport, welcomed the announcement and called it “long overdue”, but raised concerns about the route’s sustainability.

“We’re excited but cautiously optimistic,” said Chet Bahadur Karki, general secretary of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents of Gandaki province.

“The airline could have connected Pokhara to Chinese cities with better onward connections or labour-intensive markets in the Gulf,” he added. “Nevertheless, we will do our best to promote the Pokhara-Lhasa route to make it sustainable.”

Pokhara, a picturesque town 200km west of the capital Kathmandu, has sought an international airport since the 1970s. However, progress only began in 2016 when Nepal and China signed a loan agreement for its construction.

The US$216 million airport opened in January 2023, but has seen only a few chartered international flights, mainly from China, for athletes attending sporting events in Pokhara.

The absence of international flights had sparked concerns over the airport’s viability. Many speculated if it would suffer a similar fate as Sri Lanka’s China-built aviation hub – the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport – which had taken losses since opening in 2013 due to low demand.

Aviation analyst Hemant Arjyal said Pokhara needed a large influx of passengers from surrounding regions to make it operational, adding that fewer travel restrictions to and from Tibet would also help.

“Something is better than nothing, but one flight per week is not going to do much,” he said. “It is largely symbolic for Pokhara Airport.”

Tourism entrepreneurs in Pokhara, who banked on the new airport’s promises to boost the economy, were frustrated with the government’s lacklustre management despite the airport serving more than 1 million passengers and 16,700 domestic flights last year. Experts believe the airport needs international carriers to become profitable.

Estimates from Nepal-based financial research firm Ansu Invest showed that a daily international flight with about 100 passengers could add US$1 million to Pokhara airport’s annual revenue. However, it would need several daily flights to meet its debt obligations and become profitable.

“We were excited when construction for the new airport started, and businesses started investing, hoping for better returns from increased international connectivity,” said Taranath Pahari, chairman of Pokhara Tourism Council.

“But now we’re looking at increasing interest rates from banks. Both the central and provincial governments need to step up in selling our airport and the city internationally.”

Though the Nepal government had offered discounted landing and parking rates to attract airlines, officials said carriers were still reluctant to fly to Pokhara, viewing Kathmandu as the main travel hub. The Pokhara Tourism Council and other private sector groups were working to bring international tourists directly to Pokhara.

Pahari said tourism entrepreneurs would travel to Chengdu in mid-March to explore the prospects of attracting more Chinese visitors, adding there were plans to add scheduled Sichuan Airlines flights to Pokhara that would bring about 1,200 visitors in the next three months.

Pokhara gained popularity among Chinese tourists after the 2013 film Up in the Wind highlighted its beautiful mountain views and lakes. Last year, Nepal welcomed more than 1 million tourists, with Chinese visitors being the largest group after India and the United States. Nepal welcomed 101,879 Chinese visitors in 2024, a 67 per cent increase from 2023.

“Cities like Chengdu and Kunming are just 3½ hours away from Pokhara, so it could benefit us immensely if there are direct flights,” Pahari said.

Raunab Singh Khatri, co-founder of The Araniko Project, which focuses on Nepal-China relations, agreed that flights to larger Chinese metropolises could have been a “stronger start”.

“Maybe the bigger motive is to make Lhasa a transit spot and improve Tibet’s connectivity,” he said.

Apart from connectivity issues, Pokhara International Airport was also caught in the geopolitical crossfire between China and India, which Arjyal said was “harming Nepal”.

China had called Pokhara International Airport “the flagship project” of its Belt and Road Initiative, but Nepal denied it was part of the infrastructure development strategy. Analysts have said such associations also make India wary, refusing its airspace for larger aircraft flying to China-built airports in Pokhara and the city of Bhairahawa.

SATV Mar. 9, Kathmandu: “Since the airport’s completion, it has become a victim of the geopolitical rivalry,” Khatri said. “Now that India and China are trying to normalise their relationship, we can only hope to use our diplomacy to create enabling conditions where both countries can cooperate in Nepal.”

Meanwhile, tourism entrepreneurs such as Karki believe that international flights will help realise Pokhara’s full potential as the tourism capital of Nepal, with the maiden Pokhara-Lhasa flight serving as a model for success.

“We need to make it work for a long term,” he said. “If the flight is abruptly shut down, there might be suspicions about the airport. We cannot afford that.”