Scheduled ASA revision between Nepal, China postponed

The proposed revision to the bilateral air service agreement (ASA) between Nepal and China has been postponed, according to government officials.

The Chinese side had made the request for the postponement of the ASA revision on Wednesday referring to some technical problems, said the officials.

Earlier, the date for the revision had been scheduled for Oct. 24-25. A scheduled trip by a 17-member delegation from China to Nepal to sign the agreement has also been canceled.

"The agreement has been postponed for now following the request from Civil Aviation Administration of China," Suresh Acharya, joint secretary at Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), told Xinhua.

However, he said the Chinese side has not mentioned anything about the next date for signing the agreement.

"We had initiated the process for revising ASA with China following its request and we also agreed to postpone the date for the pact following its request," Acharya added.

Concerned stakeholders and ministry officials however are of the opinion that the government should request the Chinese government to fix the new date for ASA at the earliest so as to benefit much from the growing number of Chinese tourists who fly to Nepal.

Three Chinese carriers -- Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines -- currently serve Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and a new carrier from China have expressed interest in servicing Nepal, according to the MoCTCA source.

"At a time, when a Chinese airlines company is willing to expand its service to Nepal, the Nepali government should request the northern neighbor for the agreement," a source with the ministry told Xinhua.

Government statistics showed a growing trend of arrivals of Chinese tourists to Nepal. As per MoCTCA, Nepal welcomed 85,832 Chinese tourists last year, which accounted for more than 10 percent of the total arrivals of foreign tourists in 2012.

According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Chinese tourists arriving via air in Nepal increased by 24.2 percent to 38,767 in the first eight months of this year. Chinese tourists hold a 10.5 percent market share in Nepal after India.

Moreover, Air China, China Eastern and China Southern observed a passenger occupancy growth of 35.92 percent, to 82,470, in the first six months of 2013.

The existing ASA between the two countries allows Chinese airlines to operate 14 flights per week. The two countries signed the ASA in 2003 and Air China opened a direct air link between China and Nepal in 2004.