With the target to promote adventure tourism, Karnali Province has launched Paragliding inside Surkhet Valley. The sports is launched in Bayalkanda and Deutithan of Birendranagar Municipality-14 and 1 respectively on February 7.
Welcome Paragliding Pvt. has got permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to operate the adventure sport for a year. It has collaborated with Babu Adventure in Pokhara for the sport and has taken aboard 12 pilots.
Padam Bahadur Shahi, an operator at the Welcome Paragliding, said they had made attempts to operate the paragliding on regular basis back in 2070 BS as well, however, they failed because of a lack of human resources. He added, Surkhet is suitable for the sport in terms of geography and weather and that arrangements have been made for emergency landing too.
Shahi further said the flight fee has been set at 3,500 per person. Pilot Sanu Babu Sunuwar, the world record breaker in paragliding, has been appointed for the adventure sport. To attract customers, they are also providing discounted fees. In a group of five people, an individual will be charged only Rs 3,200. Similarly, a group of 10 people can pay only 2,800, and a group of more than 10 will be charged only Rs 2,500. There is an additional cost of Rs 1,000 for taking photos and videos while flying. One flight takes 20 minutes at one go.