Yeti Airlines, Agni Airlines and Sita Airlines are currently operating six flights to Jomsom from Pokhara everyday. Earlier these airlines used to fly one or two times per day to that destination. Jomsom is the gateway to Muktinath – a famous pilgrimage site in Nepal.
“More pilgrims are choosing air travel to avoid hassles caused by general strikes and bandas,” Narendra Bahadur Thapa, chief of Pokhara Airport said. Sudden rise in the number of Indian pilgrims is also another reason for the airline companies to increase the number of flights to Jomsom. “We hope this trend will continue for the next two weeks,” Thapa said.
Due to the rise in the number of visitors to Muktinath, most of the planes flying to Pokhara from Kathmandu are facing greater influx of passengers. “Occupancy rate in all of the 18 flights to Pokhara is 100 percent these days,” Thapa said. People flying to Jomsom from Kathmandu get their connecting flights in Pokhara.
However, due to lack of flights, many pilgrims are forced to travel to Muktinath by land while others find themselves stranded.
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