Kathmandu, June 12 -- The Finnish government has formally proposed signing a bilateral air service agreement with Nepal following Finnair's interest in operating direct flights to Kathmandu.

Finnair is the national flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, headquartered in Vantaa on the premises of Helsinki Airport. A flight between Kathmandu and Helsinki is estimated to take around nine hours.

Tourism Joint Secretary Suresh Acharya told the Post that they received a formal proposal from the Finnish government to sign an air service agreement three weeks ago, following talks with Finnair officials and the Finnish ambassador to Nepal two months ago.

"We have been working on the proposal accordingly. It's at the initial phase. We hope...