KATHMANDU, Nepal: At a time search for a missing Malaysian flight MH37, en route to Beijing is going on; the government of China has requested Nepal to scan the activities of travelers departing for Chinese cities from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu.
The Malaysia Airlines aircraft disappeared on 8 March en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Of the 239 on board, 153 were Chinese. Planes and ships have been searching the southern Indian Ocean, where the jet is believed to have sunk.
“We have obtained a letter from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu asking for additional security measures for passengers boarding aircraft heading for Chinese cities do not become a threat,” a source at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, informed.
The government is learnt to have requested the concerned agencies to ask their staff to remain extra vigilant to ensure the northern neighbor that there are no security lapses in the country’s only one international airport.
Earlier on Wednesday, a meeting of the security agency was at the Home Ministry decided to request for close scrutiny on passengers bound for Chinese cities. An official at the Tourism Ministry who took part the meeting confirmed that the government decided to adopt additional measures for the passengers travelling towards China.
Currently, three Chinese airlines — Air China, China Southern and China Eastern — are operating direct flights from Kathmandu to Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Lhasa and Kunming.