flydubai has launched daily flights between Dubai and Pokhara, the first scheduled international service to the Nepali city’s airport, the Dubai carrier said on September 25.
The route gives Pokhara International Airport its first regular international traffic since it opened on January 1, 2023. Built by China CAMC Engineering with a $216mn loan from China Exim Bank, the airport had until now handled only charter flights, including Sichuan Airlines services from Chengdu, while its international terminal sat largely unused. Pokhara becomes Nepal’s third airport with scheduled international flights, after Kathmandu and Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa.
The service, announced in June, takes flydubai’s weekly flights to Nepal to 35, alongside four daily flights to Kathmandu. The airline has carried more than 4.5mn passengers on its Kathmandu route since 2009, with 65% connecting onward via Dubai.
“Our expansion into Pokhara will cater to the growing demand for direct and convenient access to Western Nepal,” said Sudhir Sreedharan, Divisional Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at flydubai. “By offering a direct connection without multiple transfers or extended road journeys, we are making the journey simpler.”
The inaugural flight left Terminal 3 at Dubai International on September 23 and received a water cannon salute on arrival in Pokhara, gateway to the Annapurna range and Nepal’s main trekking and adventure hub.
Flight FZ1165 departs Dubai at 12:00 and lands in Pokhara at 18:15, with the return FZ1166 leaving at 19:15 and arriving in Dubai at 22:00, all local times. Return economy fares from Dubai start at AED1,950 ($531) and business class at AED5,400 ($1,470), while fares from Pokhara start at NPR80,500 ($524) and NPR135,000 ($879) respectively.
The route runs under flydubai’s codeshare with Emirates, giving Pokhara passengers single-ticket connections to more than 140 destinations. flydubai said popular onward connections from Nepal include Bucharest, Dammam, Jeddah, Muscat and Riyadh.
Government-owned flydubai began flying in 2009 and now serves 20 destinations in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, with more than 380 weekly flights to South Asia. Other recent moves include dedicated freighter operations from Dubai World Central.