Himalaya Airlines, a Nepal-China joint venture airline, launched its first direct flight from Kathmandu to Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MOCTA) Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, inaugurated the airline's maiden flight to the Malaysian capital amidst a special ceremony held at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) this morning.

Himalaya Airlines flagged off its Airbus 320 with 100% seat factor to Kuala Lumpur, making it the airline's 3rd destination after Doha and Colombo.

Minister Shahi, MOCTA Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, CAAN Director General Sanjiv Gautam, Nepal Tourism Board CEO Deepak Raj Joshi and Chargé d' affaires at the Embassy of Malaysia Ahmad Phadil Ismail boarded the flight to Kuala Lumpur.

Minister Shahi will hold bilateral talks with his Malaysian counterpart and high officials on issues of mutual interests and tourism promotion.

Nepali Ambassador to Malaysia Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat along with the visiting Nepali delegation will apprise the Malaysian entrepreneurs and government officials on the scope of investment opportunities in Nepal and tourism promotion during a special programme slated to be held this evening in Kuala Lumpur.

Airline's Vice President (Administration) Vijay Shrestha said that the flights will be operated five days a week apart from Tuesday and Saturday.

He expressed his belief that the operation of the flights will help in further boosting tourism between Nepal and Malaysia.

Himalaya Airlines has set the airfare for a round trip flight from Kathmandu to Kuala Lumpur at Rs 25,375 with tax excluded.

Himalaya Airlines, a full service carrier, started its scheduled flights operations from May 13, 2016 flying directly to Doha, Qatar and Colombo, Sri Lanka on October 1, 2016.

 It plans to connect Kathmandu with Yangon, a former capital of Myanmar, with operation of direct flights from February 24.