September 3: The government has directed Air Arabia to refund the additional charges it collected from passengers during a recent flight.

The government issued such directive during a regular meeting at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on  Wednesday (September 2) following complaints of excessive charge by the airline company during a recent flight.

The airline company has been accused of charging extra amount to 142 out of 161 passengers who travelled to Nepal from Sharjah of the UAE in an Air Arabia flight on August 25.

The airliner had carried 142 passengers who underwent Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, 18 who had done Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and one without any test to Nepal and kept them in hotel quarantine. The airline company allegedly charged the amount for their stay in hotel while selling the tickets but the passengers later had to pay the hotel bill themselves. Following complaints that the passengers were duped by the company and had to pay twice for the service, the ministry directed the airline company to foot the bill. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai has instructed the concerned authorities to take action against the airline company if it refuses to refund the amount. Likewise, the ministry has also requested international airline companies not to charge any additional amount to the passengers during the current crisis.

Travel agencies have been blamed for taking advantage of the current situation while selling tickets due to the unavailability of regular flights. Minister Bhattarai opined that the airline companies must regulate the black marketing. He added that the ministry will coordinate with Nepal’s diplomatic missions abroad and the non-residential Nepalis to control the black market of air tickets.

Meanwhile, international commercial flights resumed in Nepal from Wednesday (September 2) after a gap of almost five months. The government had earlier decided to resume regular flights from September 2 by following the required safety protocols to prevent the spread of Covid-19.