Kathmandu, Aug. 21 -- After the outrage over the government's abrupt cancellation of scheduled repatriation flights on 16 August, the Cabinet has announced conditions for passengers coming to Nepal on chartered and scheduled flights.

According to a set of complicated new rules, scheduled passenger flights will be allowed from 1 September, but all passengers will have to bear the cost of one week of hotel quarantine in Kathmandu which will be added to their air ticket.

These regular flights will also be allowed only from countries where PCR tests are easily available, and these include: Malaysia, UAE, Korea, Thailand, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia, United States and Canada. In addition, only Nepalis, diplomats and UN officials will ...