Turkish Airlines said on Tuesday that flights from Kathmandu to connect Nepal with other cities around the world via Istanbul will not be affected as Turkey decided to halt flights and all direct travel from a number of countries including Nepal.

It has also announced that flights from Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka will be banned due to new variants of the coronavirus from July 1.

Abdullah Tuncer Kececi, general manager of Turkish Airlines for Kathmandu, told the Post that Turkey has restricted entry of people from these countries but transit passengers via Turkey are allowed.

“Flights to and from Kathmandu will not be affected,” he said.

Nepal has opened up several international routes as part of loosening its lockdown that has been in place since April 29.

On June 21, following a drop in new cases, the Cabinet decided to lift the restrictions that had kept the country paralysed for nearly two months.

From a high of 9,317 cases on May 11, the number of new cases on Tuesday stood at 1,728.

The frequency on the Kathmandu-Istanbul route has been increased by one flight to two weekly. Turkish Airlines, the only carrier connecting Nepal and Europe, will be operating flights on Thursdays and Saturdays.

According to Reuters, those who arrive from other countries but have been in these six countries within the last 14 days will need to show a negative PCR test within 72 hours before entering the country and will need to stay in quarantine for 14 days.

The report said those arriving from Pakistan and Afghanistan or who have been there in the last 14 days will need to be quarantined in Turkey for 10 days upon arrival. Those coming from the United Kingdom, Iran, Egypt and Singapore will need to show a negative PCR test within 72 hours prior to arrival.