Pokhara, June 27: With the onset of the monsoon, a sharp decline in the number of travelers to Mustang has prompted private airlines to temporarily halt their Pokhara–Jomsom operations. Regular flights on this scenic yet weather-sensitive route have now been grounded due to plummeting passenger demand and persistent poor weather conditions.

Tara Air, which operates Twin Otter aircraft on this sector, officially paused all flights starting June 16. Sujan Lalchan, the airline’s Jomsom station in-charge, confirmed the move, stating that operations are expected to resume in the first week of September. “Flight demand has dipped significantly, and the monsoon weather has made flying challenging. We’ll restart services once conditions improve and the tourist season returns,” he explained.

Summit Air is also set to follow the same course. Beginning July 4, it too will suspend flights for a two-month period. “At the moment, we’re barely seeing one flight a day, and the number of travelers continues to shrink,” noted Summit Air’s Jomsom station in-charge, Suman Thakali. He said the decision was made recently in response to consistently low bookings.

The Jomsom Civil Aviation Office has observed a steady fall in air traffic ever since the monsoon began. Chief of the office, Deepak Pokharel, confirmed that Tara Air has already suspended its flights, while Summit Air’s suspension is imminent.

The downturn is not limited to air travel. Bishal Adhikari, an inspector and spokesperson at the Mustang District Police Office, reported that road traffic to Jomsom has also decreased noticeably since the monsoon rains began.

People’s News Monitoring Service