Beijing has agreed to let Royal Nepal Airlines double its flights to China to 14 a week and begin service to Tibet, Nepal's aviation minister Sharbendra Nath Shukla told media in Beijing this week. But the questions is does Royal Nepal have the capability to use those rights? Nepal is now allowed 14 flights a week to Beijing, Shanghai, Lhasa and four other points. Royal Nepal is allowed seven flights a week to Shanghai, but only operated two flights weekly.

Air China operates four flights a week between Lhasa and Kathmandu in high season. About 6,000 tourists and trekkers visit Lhasa each year via Kathmandu, either flying or travelling overland through Kodari. The Nepali travel industry hopes to take that figure up to 10,000 by next year. Nepal has been trying to woo Chinese tourists and now allows them to visit Nepal without visas.