25 September 2026
flydubai has become the first airline in the world to operate scheduled international flights to Pokhara. Daily non-stop services between Dubai International (DXB) and Pokhara International Airport (PHH) began on 23 September 2026, when the inaugural flight left Terminal 3 at DXB and was met with a ceremonial water cannon salute on arrival. The route creates the first direct air link between the UAE and western Nepal, makes Pokhara the third airport in Nepal with scheduled international connectivity, and lifts flydubai to 35 weekly flights to the country. Return fares from Dubai start at AED 1,950 in Economy Class and AED 5,400 in Business Class.
What has actually changed
Pokhara International Airport had no scheduled international carrier before this week. Passengers flying from the UAE to Pokhara had to land in Kathmandu first and then continue by domestic flight or by road through the hills, a transfer that could absorb the better part of a day. flydubai is the first airline to put a regular international timetable on the airport, and it did so with a daily frequency rather than a two or three times weekly trial.
Pokhara becomes flydubai’s second destination in Nepal alongside Kathmandu, which the carrier has served since it began operations in June 2009. The city is Nepal’s adventure tourism capital and the principal gateway to the Annapurna mountain range, so the new service is aimed at leisure and trekking traffic as well as at the large Nepali community living and working across the Gulf.
Schedule and fares
| Flight | From | To | Departure | Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FZ 1165 | DXB | PHH | 12:00 | 18:15 |
| FZ 1166 | PHH | DXB | 19:15 | 22:00 |
All times are local. The service runs daily from Terminal 3 at Dubai International. Return Business Class fares from Dubai start at AED 5,400 and Economy Class fares at AED 1,950. In the opposite direction, return Business Class fares from Pokhara start at NPR 135,000 and Economy Class fares at NPR 80,500. Seats are on sale through flydubai.com, the flydubai app, the airline’s contact centre, flydubai travel shops and travel partners.
Nepal in the flydubai network
The addition of Pokhara brings flydubai to 35 weekly flights to Nepal, on top of the four daily services it already operates to Kathmandu. Since 2009 the airline has carried more than 4.5 million passengers to and from Kathmandu, and 65% of that traffic does not end its journey in Dubai. It connects onward across the flydubai and Emirates networks.
That 65% figure is the commercial logic behind the route. Pokhara is a destination in its own right, but it is also another feeder point into the Dubai hub. Under the codeshare with Emirates, passengers travelling to and from Pokhara can reach more than 140 destinations across Asia, Europe and the Americas on a single ticket with through-checked baggage. flydubai names Bucharest, Dammam, Jeddah, Muscat and Riyadh among the popular onward connections from Nepal on its own network, while Larnaca, Lisbon, London, New York and Vienna are among the top feeder markets arriving on the Emirates side.
Sudhir Sreedharan, Divisional Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at flydubai, said the expansion into Pokhara “will cater to the growing demand for direct and convenient access to Western Nepal” and removes the need for “multiple transfers or extended road journeys”.
Dubai and South Asia
With Pokhara added, flydubai says it now operates the widest network between Dubai and South Asia: 20 destinations across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, served by more than 380 weekly flights. Across its whole map the airline serves more than 125 destinations in 56 countries with a fleet of 98 Boeing 737 aircraft, and it has carried more than 137 million passengers since June 2009. Its stated model is opening routes that previously had no direct link to Dubai at all, and more than 100 of its routes fall into that category. Pokhara fits the pattern precisely.
The launch sits alongside the rest of the airline’s capacity work this year. flydubai passed 100 aircraft in its fleet in 2026 and continues to add frequencies from a hub that was ranked the most connected airport in Asia Pacific and the Middle East in the ACI 2026 index. Route launches of this kind are how that connectivity score is built: one underserved market at a time.
What this means for business in the UAE
A single new route does not change any rule, fee or procedure in the UAE. What it changes is a logistics line that a specific set of companies here actually uses, and that is worth reading precisely rather than generously.
- Employers with Nepali staff. Companies in construction, hospitality, facilities management, security and retail employ large Nepali workforces. Home leave, end of service travel and new arrivals from western Nepal no longer require a Kathmandu transfer plus a domestic sector or a long road journey. That shortens travel time and reduces the number of things that can go wrong around visa and joining dates.
- Recruitment and mobilisation. A daily flight with a fixed timetable makes joining dates easier to plan than a schedule dependent on domestic connections. For anyone bringing staff in under a UAE employment visa, predictable arrival timing matters more than headline fare levels.
- Cargo and small consignments. Additional passenger frequencies add belly capacity on the Dubai to Nepal lane, which is relevant to traders moving smaller, higher value consignments rather than containers.
- Travel and tourism operators. Dubai based agencies selling trekking and adventure packages can now build itineraries on a single carrier with one ticket and through-checked baggage to the Annapurna gateway.
For a company deciding where to base itself in the region, hub connectivity of this kind is one input among several, and usually not the decisive one. Licence type, activity scope and where the company is allowed to invoice its customers matter more day to day. Those choices are set out in our guide to mainland versus free zone companies in the UAE, which covers what each structure allows in terms of trading, customs and onshore contracts.
How Atlant Capital can help
We work with companies that are building an operating presence in the UAE rather than a mailbox. If your business depends on staff or freight moving between the Gulf and South Asia, the practical questions are usually about structure and permissions, not schedules.
- Company formation in a free zone or on the mainland, with the activity list matched to what you actually intend to do, including trading and logistics activities.
- Employment visas and residency for founders and staff, including establishment cards, quotas and the sequence of medical, Emirates ID and visa stamping steps.
- Corporate bank account opening, including accounts for companies with a large share of cross border settlement.
The bottom line
flydubai has taken a Nepali airport that had been open since 2023 without a scheduled international carrier and put a daily Dubai service on it. For passengers it removes a transfer. For Dubai it adds a twentieth South Asian point and one more feeder into a hub where, on the Nepal lane, roughly two thirds of traffic is connecting rather than terminating. For companies in the UAE the effect is narrow but real: a shorter, more predictable travel line for staff and light freight between the Gulf and western Nepal, available from 23 September 2026.
Source: flydubai Newsroom.
FAQ
When did flydubai start flying from Dubai to Pokhara?
The first flight departed Terminal 3 at Dubai International on 23 September 2026. The route operates daily: FZ 1165 leaves Dubai at 12:00 and reaches Pokhara at 18:15, while FZ 1166 leaves Pokhara at 19:15 and lands in Dubai at 22:00, all times local. flydubai is the first airline in the world to run scheduled international services to Pokhara.
How much does a Dubai to Pokhara ticket cost?
Return fares from Dubai start at AED 1,950 in Economy Class and AED 5,400 in Business Class. Return fares from Pokhara start at NPR 80,500 in Economy Class and NPR 135,000 in Business Class. Tickets are sold on flydubai.com, in the flydubai app, through the contact centre, at flydubai travel shops and through travel partners.
How many flights does flydubai operate to Nepal?
Thirty five a week. That total combines four daily flights to Kathmandu, served since 2009, with the new daily service to Pokhara. Pokhara is flydubai’s second destination in Nepal and the third airport in the country with scheduled international connectivity.
Can passengers connect from Pokhara to Europe or the Americas on one ticket?
Yes. The route operates under flydubai’s codeshare with Emirates, which gives passengers to and from Pokhara access to more than 140 destinations across Asia, Europe and the Americas via Dubai, on a single ticket and with through-checked baggage. Larnaca, Lisbon, London, New York and Vienna are among the largest feeder markets on the Emirates side of that network.
