Daily Dubai–Pokhara Flights Land in September: The New 2026 Routes Making Nepal Easier to Reach

The clearest sign that the Himalaya is getting easier to reach in 2026 arrives on 23 September, when flydubai launches a daily Dubai–Pokhara service — the first-ever direct link between the United Arab Emirates and Nepal's lakeside tourism capital, the gateway to the Annapurna range. It is the headline in a busy year for Nepal's air map, alongside a brand-new Kathmandu–Shenzhen route and extra flights to Tokyo. If you have been putting off a trek because getting here felt like a chore, the routing is quietly working in your favour.

The routes to know for 2026

Here are the confirmed new and expanded international services that change how travellers connect into Nepal and the wider region this year.

flydubai to Pokhara: the one that matters most for trekkers

Until now, almost every foreign visitor to Nepal funnelled through Kathmandu's single, chronically congested Tribhuvan International Airport, then took a domestic hop or a long road transfer to Pokhara. flydubai's new daily service flips that for anyone bound for the Annapurna region. Flying from Terminal 3 at Dubai International and operating in codeshare with Emirates, it puts Pokhara — and the trailheads for the Annapurna Base Camp, Poon Hill and Mardi Himal treks — within one connection of dozens of cities across Europe, the Gulf, Africa and India. flydubai has flown to Nepal since 2009 and says it has carried roughly four million passengers to the country to date.

New links east: Shenzhen, Tokyo and Guangzhou

China is back on Nepal's map in a serious way. In June 2026, Himalaya Airlines — the Nepal-based joint-venture carrier — opened a direct Kathmandu–Shenzhen route, its first to the southern Chinese tech hub, running twice a week with room to add frequency as demand builds. Nepal Airlines, the national flag carrier, has also brought its Kathmandu–Guangzhou service back into the schedule.

For the large Nepali community in Japan — and for travellers connecting via Tokyo — Nepal Airlines is adding a fourth weekly Kathmandu–Tokyo Narita rotation from 18 September 2026, timed for the autumn festival rush when the diaspora heads home. The extra flights run Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

The Sydney question

The route many Nepalis and Australians most want to see — a direct Kathmandu–Sydney service via Singapore — remains a plan rather than a boarding pass. Nepal Airlines secured Sydney landing slots back in 2023 and has repeatedly signalled a twice-weekly launch, but the service is still held up pending final safety approval from Australia's civil aviation regulator. Treat it as "watch this space," not a route you can book today.

What it means if you're heading for the mountains

More doors into Nepal means more flexibility in how you build a trip. If Pokhara is now one connection away, a compact Annapurna trek is an easy add-on to a Gulf stopover — our Short Annapurna Base Camp Trek from Pokhara runs four days from just $455 per person. Prefer the classic? The full 7-day Annapurna Base Camp Trek starts at $800, and the flagship 14-day Everest Base Camp Trek from Kathmandu is from $1,850. Whichever gateway you land at, sort your paperwork first: our plain-English Nepal visa guide walks through visa-on-arrival versus e-visa, fees and the documents to bring.

Sources: flydubai newsroom; The National; The Kathmandu Post; New Spotlight Magazine; Ratopati.

Cover photo: Bijay Chaurasia via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).