Nepal has rejected India’s ‘open sky’ offer to allow unlimited flights between the both nations, citing it was not yet ready for the agreement, following the meeting held on December 20, senior authorities of the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

A senior official of the Ministry, said that, “Nepal said it was not yet ready for the ‘open-sky’ agreement and it might consider the proposal two years later.” At present, Airlines from India and Nepal are now allowed to operate 30,000 seats from each side.

According to the official, India and Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint technical committee to examine Nepal’s request for developing new air routes and air entry points at Bhairahawa, Janakpur and Nepalgunj.

“The committee will meet in the first week of February to examine the feasibility of the proposed routes,” he said.

The decision comes days after India signed an agreement with Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Guyana, Finland, Spain and Czech Republic to allow airlines to operate unlimited flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,  Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.

The Hindu reported, Nepal’s Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay, said that, “Nepal is building a major international airport at Bhairwaha, near the Uttar Pradesh border, and the airport at Pokhara will soon be brought to international standards. Therefore, we believe India and Nepal should give each more access to the other’s skies and move with the times.”

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