flydubai launches daily Dubai-Pokhara flights as Nepal recovers from deadly floods

Dubai: flydubai has launched daily non-stop flights between Dubai International Airport and Pokhara International Airport, becoming the first airline to establish a direct Dubai-Pokhara link, according to the Dubai-based carrier.

The new service gives UAE travellers direct access to Pokhara, Nepal’s adventure tourism capital and a major gateway to the Annapurna mountain range, without having to connect through Kathmandu.

For travellers in the UAE, flydubai and Air Arabia are the two airlines offering direct flights between the UAE and Pokhara, with flydubai operating the new service from Dubai International Airport.

The inaugural flydubai flight departed Terminal 3 at Dubai International on September 23 and received a ceremonial water cannon salute on arrival in Pokhara.

Pokhara is flydubai’s second destination in Nepal after Kathmandu, where the airline has operated since 2009.

The carrier says it has transported more than 4.5 million passengers to and from Kathmandu since launching the route, with 65 per cent of that traffic connecting onwards through Dubai to destinations on the flydubai and Emirates networks.

The new Pokhara service takes flydubai’s total Nepal schedule to 35 flights a week, including four daily flights to Kathmandu.

Sudhir Sreedharan, divisional senior vice-president of commercial operations at flydubai, said Nepal has been an important part of the airline’s network for 17 years.

“Since launching operations to Kathmandu 17 years ago, our objective has been to offer a direct and accessible link between the UAE and Nepal,” Sreedharan said.

“With the launch of our daily flights to Pokhara, we are further strengthening that commitment by offering travellers a seamless, non-stop connection to the country’s tourism capital, and an entry point to one of South Asia’s most popular leisure and adventure destinations.”

The airline says the new route is aimed at growing demand for direct access to Western Nepal. Rather than travelling via another airport and then making a longer overland journey to Pokhara, UAE travellers can now fly directly from Dubai.

“Our expansion into Pokhara will cater to the growing demand for direct and convenient access to Western Nepal,” Sreedharan said.

“By offering a direct connection without multiple transfers or extended road journeys, we are making the journey simpler, more comfortable and more accessible for our customers.”

Pokhara is known as a base for visitors heading towards the Annapurna region and is one of Nepal’s key destinations for trekking and adventure tourism.

The new international service also marks a milestone for Pokhara International Airport, with flydubai describing the launch as establishing Pokhara as Nepal’s third airport with scheduled international connectivity.

flydubai’s new daily Dubai-Pokhara service operates under its codeshare partnership with Emirates, giving passengers connecting through Dubai access to more than 140 destinations across Asia, Europe and the Americas. Passengers can book connecting journeys on a single ticket with through-checked baggage.

The airline says it now operates more than 380 weekly flights to 20 destinations across South Asia, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The daily Pokhara service operates from Terminal 3 at Dubai International. Return Economy fares from Dubai start at Dh1,950, while Business Class fares start at Dh5,400, according to flydubai.

Nepal recorded a total of 777,672 international tourist arrivals between January and August 2026, according to the Nepal Tourism Board.

However, the country is still recovering from devastating floods, which struck on August 26, after an ice-and-rock avalanche in the Langtang Himalaya triggered a massive debris flow and flash flood along the Lhende Khola river.

The disaster caused widespread damage to homes, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure, with the mountainous terrain making rescue and access particularly difficult.

By September, more than 1,400 people had been reported dead and thousands remained missing, while schools, communities and infrastructure were still dealing with the aftermath. At least 69 schools were reported damaged or destroyed, putting the education of about 19,000 children at risk.

Nepal's Prime Minister, Balendra Shah, was applauded at the UN General Assembly this week, as he highlighted how the world is failing countries on the frontline of the climate crisis. He said Nepal was, "hit by the climate we didn’t warm, hit by the wars we didn’t start."

“We did not create this crisis, yet we are paying a colossal price for it,” said Shah, 36, a former rapper and engineer.

Shah ⁠said ​that Nepal’s recovery and reconstruction needs were estimated at about 10 per cent of gross domestic ⁠product following the flood that struck four weeks ago, and argued that vulnerable countries should not be ⁠forced to take on additional debt to rebuild from catastrophic climate ​events. Tourism contributes approximately 6.7 to 8 per cent of Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) and supports over one million jobs.