Etihad Airways will start flying to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu in October.

The four flights-a-week service from the airline’s home base in Abu Dhabi will provide a valuable link for the 90,000 Nepalese nationals living in the UAE as well as the growing demand from leisure travellers looking to sample Nepal’s ancient culture and the world-famous Himalayas, the airline said.

Kathmandu will join Etihad’s expanding network across the Indian Sub-continent which includes Dhaka, Delhi, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “The Kathmandu service will be enormously popular with the UAE’s Nepalese community as well as leisure travellers flying with Etihad from Europe and North America.”

Tourism in Nepal has developed considerably in recent years with thousands of travellers visiting the country each year to enjoy its spectacular scenery, wildlife and Everest, the world's highest mountain.

Etihad will operate a two cabin Airbus A330-200 between Abu Dhabi and Kathmandu configured to carry 262 passengers, with 22 in business class and 240 in economy. – TradeArabia News Service