By Our Correspondent
Dhangadhi, Mar. 3: Pokhara, the main tourist destination of Gandaki, has now been connected with Dhangadhi, the temporary capital of Sudurpashchim Province. Direct flights between the two cities started on Wednesday.

According to Ram Krishna Bhatta, head of the Dhangadhi office of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Buddha Air has begun flying the route with an 18-seater aircraft.
Bhatta informed that Buddha would operate three flights a week, one each on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. “But if passenger volume increases then the flights can be made daily and a 72-seater craft can be brought to service the route,” he said, adding that the one-way fare from Dhangadhi to Pokhara per person was Rs. 6,900.

Tourism entrepreneurs of Sudurpashchim had long been asking authorities and airline operators to connect the province with the various tourist centres of the country. “We have waited for a very long time for this day and believe that this will help bring visitors to the region,” Padam Bikram Singh, Sudurpashchim provincial secretary of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), said.
Before the Pokhara flights, Dhangadhi only had direct air connection with Kathmandu and the hilly districts of Sudurpashchim.