The number of Pokhara-Jomsom air flights has decreased by two-thirds since the Beni-Jomsom-Korla road of national pride is getting easier. The Jomsom Airport of the Jomsom Civil Aviation Office, which is very busy during the tourist season, is not as busy as it used to be.
In the Himalayan district of Mustang, small Twinator ships used to fly the Pokhara-Jomsom air service only in the morning. But if you reach Jomsom airport in the morning, there will be no one except a limited number of air passengers.
Before the start of the national highway, more than 300 tourists used to travel to Pokhara-Jomsam by air and come to Mustang every day. . Now that number is less than half. The reason for this is the Korla road which is being upgraded. From Beni in Myagdi to Muktinath in Mustang, more than two-thirds of the unpaved road has been paved.
Keshav Lamsal, head of Jomsom Civil Aviation Office informed that the number of air passengers has decreased this year compared to previous years due to the black road. "It is in our records that there were up to 18 air flights here before the Korla road was upgraded," he said.
With the end of winter and the arrival of spring, this is the perfect time to visit Mustang. However, during this time, the flights have decreased as the tourists coming to Mustang from Pokhara by air are coming by road, said Jomsom manager of Tara Airlines, Sujan Lalchan.
'Earlier, we used to bother to provide tickets to the passengers, because of the air passengers coming from Pokhara Jomsom two-way tickets, we had to tell locals and staff including Nepali tourists that they do not have air tickets,' he said, 'Now, if people coming and going from Pokhara do not come with a ticket, the ship itself is being sent away from here empty.
Indian tourists from Pokhara take two-way air tickets to visit Muktinath and return the next day, but tourists from other countries take one-way air tickets and often have to send an empty plane from Jomsom, says Suman Thakali, Jomsom manager of Summit Airlines.
'Early on, passengers including locals and employees also wanted to travel by ship', he said, 'now as the road is good, most of the passengers from here go down to Pokhara by road.'
Another reason for the decline in Pokhara Jomsom air flights is the recent challenge to safe air travel. There have been half a dozen air accidents on the Pokhara Jomsom air route. Minimizing the growing air risk It has been analyzed that the air flight has decreased after the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority started to increase the new rules and more monitoring.
