Records of Pokhara Airport show that the city witnessed 40.6 percent rise in the numbers of air passengers from January to June this year. In the period, the number of passenger flights increased by 39.6 percent and volume of cargo too jumped by 18 percent. [break]
"A total of 179,401 passengers, including 48,413 from the third countries, flew to and from Pokhara in the first six months of 2010," said Narendra Thapa, chief of Pokhara Airport. "The number was only 127,592, including 42,892 tourists from third countries, in the same period last year."
The number of Indian nationals traveling to Pokhara was also significant in the first months of 2010 as flights to Jomsom - the gateway to Muktinath - are available only from the lake city.
The number of international air passengers, which had declined by 14 percent in the first half of 2009, increased by 12.8 percent this year. Despite decline in the number of tourists from third countries in the first half of 2009, the total number of air passengers and number of flights had increased by 28.5 percent 9.16 percent respectively.
A total of 310,091 air passengers, including 99,327 international tourists, had traveled to and from Pokhara through 21,523 flights in 2009.
"Frequent transport disruption along with poor condition of road linking Kathmandu with Pokhara is one of the reasons behind the rise in the number of air passengers," Thapa informed myrepublica.com.
He further added that the rate of increment was quite impressive in July and August. "If the trend continues, the number of tourists to Pokhara will increase remarkably this year," Thapa added.
Amrit Jung GC, the station chief of Yeti Airlines in Pokhara, said unreliable and troublesome road transport was one of the reasons behind remarkable rise in the number of air passengers. "The occupancy of our flights to and from Pokhara had started increasing from the very beginning of 2010," GC said.
He further informed that Yeti Airlines flights were enjoying 60 percent occupancy even during off-seasons due to increasing number of local passengers.
Buddha Air´s Gautam Baral echoed GC and said they were hopeful that the increasing trend will continue in the second half of 2010 as well. "Affordable air fares, troublesome road journeys and short flight duration are the major reasons behind the increasing number of air passengers," Baral added.
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