Flydubai, Dubai’s first low cost airline, will launch flights to Kathmandu from December 15, making it the eleventh route on its network.

flydubai’s service to Kathmandu will ensure this increasingly popular destination in the foothills of the Himalayas will be more accessible to a greater number of people in the UAE.

Almost three times as many tourists have visited the region in the first half of this year as in the same period in 2008, said a statement.

“Introducing Kathmandu will mean one of the most exciting travel destinations in the world becomes more accessible to people in the Gulf region. It will also give the Nepalese community of the UAE greater opportunity to visit home more often," said Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai.

With a population of just over 1 million and a history stretching back more than 2,000 years, the medieval city of Kathmandu is considered to be among the most beautiful urban locations in the world. The old city is noted for its many Buddhist and Hindu temples and the old palace of the Newar kings at Durbar is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Kathmandu is also the main jumping off point for trekkers and mountaineers seeking adventure in the Himalayas.

The other ten routes in flydubai's growing network are: Beirut-Lebanon, Amman-Jordan, Damascus and Aleppo-Syria, Alexandria-Egypt, Djibouti-Africa, Doha-Qatar, Khartoum – Sudan, Baku-Azerbaijan and soon to be operating flights to Bahrain starting December 13.

flydubai operates from a modernised and enhanced Terminal 2 on the north side of Dubai International Airport.-TradeArabia News Service