NEPAL has allowed airlines to resume limited local and international flights, including from Malaysia, as the government eases the Covid-19 lockdown.
Following a drop in the number of cases, officials said the government decided earlier this week to lift the virus restrictions that had kept the country paralysed for nearly two months.
Tourism Ministry Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane told the Kathmandu Post that the resumption date will be fixed soon.
Some officials said domestic services may resume as early as from Sunday onwards.
"The decision to increase flight frequencies and open suspended routes will also facilitate the movement of Nepali migrant workers," said Lamichhane.
Although the exact number of Nepali workers stranded abroad is not known, estimates range between 1,500 and 2,000 people, with most of them being workers whose contracts or visas have expired.
Officials said the flights will also help to bring back the bodies of dead migrant workers that have remained in many countries.
It is estimated that up to 80 bodies of Nepali workers were yet to be repatriated due to limited flights.
Except for two weekly flights on the Kathmandu-Delhi sector, Nepal decided to halt all domestic flights from May 3, and all international flights from May 6 as the virus looked like spreading out of control.
The cabinet has now permitted two extra flights on the Kathmandu-Doha-Kathmandu route — two for Nepal Airlines and two for airlines based in Qatar — for a total of four weekly flights.
The frequency on the Kathmandu-Istanbul route has been increased by one flight to two weekly. Turkish Airlines, the only carrier connecting Nepal and Europe, will be operating the two services, said Lamichhane.
The two flights on the Kathmandu-New Delhi route, one for Nepal Airlines and one for Air India under an air bubble arrangement, remain unchanged.
Under the latest decision, four weekly flights will be allowed on the Kathmandu-Dubai sector, two for Nepali carriers and two for carriers in Dubai.
Likewise, four weekly flights have been approved on the Kathmandu-Kuala Lumpur route, with Nepali and Malaysian carriers operating two services each.
Two flights are allowed on the Kathmandu-Dammam sector for Nepali carriers and two flights have been permitted on the Kathmandu-Kuwait City route for Kuwaiti airlines.
Services to two Chinese cities are allowed, with Nepali and Chinese carriers conducting one flight each on the Kathmandu-Chengdu route, and two extra flights for the Kathmandu-Guangzhou sector.
One flight a week has been approved for airlines on the Oman-Kathmandu, Seoul-Kathmandu and Kathmandu-Tokyo sectors.
Meanwhile, Nepal reported 1,574 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the nationwide infection tally to 629,431, with the number of active cases standing at 49,555.
The country's death toll has now reached 8,918 people.
According to the data released by the Health Ministry, 36 districts in the country are home to more than 500 active cases each and 19 other districts host more than 200 active cases each.