Kathmandu, March 28 -- Five days after Nepal went into a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, a bulk of the tourists stranded in the Mt Everest region are finally being evacuated to Kathmandu for flights back home.
There were two flights by Tara Air 16-seat Viking Twin Otters on Thursday and Friday from Lukla airfield, but the evacuation picked up momentum on Saturday with Nepal Airlines and Summit Air conducting at least ten ferry flights to Kathmandu.
The Australian, British, French, Swiss and American embassies in Kathmandu have been the most active in rescuing their nationals who were up in the mountains when Nepal suddenly announced a lockdown from 16-31 March - grounding all domestic and international flights and putting public transport o...