Nepali airline brings Mt Kailash, Mansarovar closer to devotees

KATHMANDU: Devotees can now offer prayers to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar from the comfort of their aircraft seats.

Nepali carrier Shree Airlines launched the ‘Kailash-Mansarovar Experience Flight’ on Monday. The flight is similar to Nepal’s popular mountain flights that provide passengers with the opportunity to observe some of the world’s highest peaks, including Mt Everest, from their aircraft seats.

A CRJ 900 aircraft of Shree Airlines departed from Nepalgunj Airport on Monday morning with 44 passengers and five crew members on board. It landed after one hour and 15 minutes, offering passengers views of Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet, as well as Phoksundo and Rara lakes, along with high mountain peaks in Nepal, from an altitude of 27,000 ft.

“We successfully operated our inaugural flight on Monday. It was a chartered flight,” said Anil Manandhar, corporate manager of Shree Airlines. “We will soon publish the airfare. We plan to fly 35 passengers per flight with a guaranteed window seat for all.”

According to Manandhar, they are hopeful of attracting a good number of Indian pilgrims and Nepalis who wish to worship Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar but cannot undertake the arduous journey. “We are also devising a package to bring passengers of Kailash flights to Kathmandu for a visit to Pashupatinath Temple,” Manandhar added.

Shreeram Sigdel, president of the Nepal Association of Travel and Tour Agents (NATTA) Banke Chapter, stated that the Kailash-Mansarovar flight has opened a new chapter in Banke’s tourism. Sigdel, who coordinated the flight, said this flight will provide people, who cannot travel to Tibet for the worship, with the closest possible view of Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar.