Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation has formed a task force to study, what it calls, the artificial scarcity of international air flights.
Joint Secretary Indu Ghimire is the coordinator of the task force which includes representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
Ministry Spokesperson, Joint Secretary Ram Krishna Lamichhane, said that the task force will investigate and analyze the air tickets purchased by passengers, tickets being sold by airlines and potential black market activities. It will submit recommendations as soon as possible, based on which the ministry will take necessary actions, he added.
Following increased complaints about high flight ticket prices, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey, on Wednesday directed international flight companies to provide their flight fares within 24 hours on Wednesday. According to the ministry, 11 international airlines have submitted details about ticket prices, ticket availability and passenger information to the ministry on Thursday.
Airline ticket prices have gone up significantly after CAAN reduced flights of different airlines citing the closure of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) during nighttime for expansion works.
