NATTA urges travel agencies to provide info on passengers; stranded tourists rescued

Kathmandu / Mar. 30: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has urged all the travel companies to provide with the information regarding those passengers traveled to Nepal along with COVID-19-infected person.

In a press statement issued today, NATTA President Achuyt Guragain has appealed to the travel companies which did ticketing for the passengers arriving Nepal boarding Qatar Airlines on March 17 and Vistara Airlines on March 20 to disclose the information.

Among the Nepalis arriving Nepal in these flights, three were tested positive for COVID-19. The press statement reads, “We are trying to support the government’s effort to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic by helping it in the identification of those arriving in Nepal by air.” NATTA stated that it was the duty of all citizens to comply with the directives issued by the State to help contain the deadly virus.

NATTA has urged all the citizens to observe the nationwide lockdown enforced by the government since March 24 to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Also, those arriving in Nepal are requested to stay in self-quarantine to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19.

Over thousand tourists, guides rescued during weeklong lockdown against COVID-19

Meanwhile, a total of 1,330 foreign tourists and Nepali tourist guides left stranded at several destinations due to a weeklong nationwide lockdown against the coronavirus have been rescued.

As per the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) sources, such a number of tourists were rescued from different 19 touristic destinations including Pokhara, Lukla, Taplejung, Jomsom, Annapurna Base Camp, Muktinath, Langtang, Manaslu, Gorkha, Lete, Besisahar, Kande, Sankhuwasabha, Jhapa, Beni and Jhinudanda. They were rescued via chartered flights. Most rescues were from Lukla in Solukhumbu district.

According to Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN), eighty-five tourist guides were airlifted to Kathmandu from the Lukla region on Sunday and Monday. The rescue flights were made in cooperation with the NTB.

As said by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Lukla witnessed five rescue flights alone this morning. Different airlines companies, including Nepal Airlines Corporation (one), Sita Air (two) and Summit Air (two) had operated flights to bring 70 foreign tourists and their guides back to Kathmandu today. Meanwhile, the Nepal Army has been granted permission to make rescue flights to Dhangadhi, Surkhet and Biratnagar, said CAAN spokesperson Raj Kumar Chhetri. RSS