KATHMANDU, Nepal – Senior Nepalese and Tibetan officials held talks on Monday about promoting direct air links to Tibet to counter a drastic drop in tourism, an official said. The discussions were called after thousands of Indian pilgrims, who normally travel on rugged overland routes through Nepal, have been scared away as Maoist rebel violence has made the journey more treacherous than ever.
At the meeting, Shankhar Prasad Pandey, the Nepalese team leader, urged his counterpart, Bha Dro, to allow Nepalese airliners to fly to Lhasa in Tibet and helicopter services to operate to the Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage sites of Mount Kailash and Lake Manosaravar.
A Nepalese tourism official said during the meeting that Nepal had asked the Chinese authorities in Tibet to allow Nepalese airlines to operate direct flights to Lhasa. Now, only Chinese airlines are allowed to operate between Lhasa and Kathmandu.
