India Resumes Flights to Kathmandu to Evacuate Stranded Passengers, First Air India Flight Takes Off Tonight

After the facility got reopened Wednesday evening, following a day-long closure on account of the worst political violence in Nepal for two decades, scheduled and special flights to TIA had been reinstated by India.

The first rescue flight Air India 221 left Delhi at 8:30 pm IST and is scheduled to land in Kathmandu at 10:20 pm local time. There will be further rescue flights over the next few days, by both Air India and IndiGo, to bring home the stranded passengers due to the closure.

Harmony speaks with the Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, who expressed:

“With the reopening of Kathmandu airport, MoCA, in coordination with Air India & IndiGo, has arranged additional flights this evening and in the coming days, alongside the resumption of scheduled services from tomorrow. Airlines have been advised to keep fares at reasonable levels.”

Priority for Stranded Indian Nationals

It is said that their priority is to repatriate hundreds of Indians who were spent the night at the airport after violent protests in Kathmandu forced its closure. Most of these stranded passengers are said to be from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, with some Indian states arranging charter flights for evacuation as well.

An official stated that operations could be opened only when the Nepalese military escorted airport and ground staff back to work to resume flights safely.

Airlines Update

In an X post, Air India said today and tomorrow special flights are being run from Delhi to Kathmandu besides the resumption of normal services from Thursday. Passengers were requested to ascertain the status of their flights at airindia.com or else call the 24×7 helpline for assistance.