Kathmandu, November 13 : The Airline Operators’ Association of Nepal (AOAN), the umbrella organisation of airline operators, has taken exception to the suggestion of the Kathmandu Valley Mayors’ Forum for imposing lockdown in the Valley.
The Association said in a press release today that the country cannot bear the next round of lockdown as it would again weaken the economy that has lately started to revive to some extent. “AOAN’s serious attention has been drawn towards news carried in some media that lockdown is to be imposed again after the Tihar and Chhath festivals.
It would not be appropriate to again shut down the tourism, transport and air service among the enterprises which have been weakened by the shutdown for six months. Thousands of workers will lose their jobs and the families dependent on them their sustenance if another round of lockdown was imposed. It would not be justified to add to the losses of the airline companies which have already suffered losses of more than Rs 6 billion,” reads the press release.
The Forum had suggested to the government to impose lockdown in the Kathmandu Valley in view of the high rate of COVID-19 infection in the Valley. Regular international flights were resumed from September 1 and the domestic flights from September 21 amidst the pandemic. The government has decided to resume all the tourism activities from November 16. The Association stated that this decision has raised hope among the tourism, hotel and airlines entrepreneurs. It said they have already started receiving bookings for holiday package and trekking.
