We were thousands of feet high in the sky over Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, in a plane that had taken off from Dubai airport seven or eight hours earlier and now, instead of landing at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, we were in the air for a long time. was putting The passengers were getting restless and we were getting quite hungry.
An almost two-hour flight from Karachi to Dubai and then a few hours of transit at the Dubai airport (waiting time between the two flights) in which there was nothing but water and then a six-hour flight from Dubai to Kathmandu and Then after spending more than an hour in the air, now the heart wanted to have some hot food to eat.
Because when was a cold and curvy sandwich bought with five US dollars in cash during the flight on flydubai airline digested?
When the concern started to increase, it was found out that there is a storm in the air below Kathmandu due to which the plane is circling in the air above the storm so that the plane may be taken down if the storm ends soon.
Eventually, after flying in the high altitudes of Kathmandu for a long time, the plane began to run low on fuel and the pilots decided to take the plane back to Dubai, but with the amount of fuel required for the six-hour flight from Kathmandu back to Dubai, the current fuel It was less than that, so the pilots diverted to the nearest international airport in Lucknow.
On hearing the decision to land at Lucknow airport for refueling, the passengers' faces were filled with satisfaction, but our faces showed signs of worry as there was probably only one other Pakistani besides me and all the other Nepalis who wanted to go to India. Instead of visa, any kind of identity document or passport is sufficient.
Whereas due to the tense relationship between India and Pakistan, I am afraid of the news of landing at Tulkhnu Airport, what will be the attitude of Indian immigration towards me when all the passengers will land at Lucknow Airport. However, this is not a deliberate attempt to illegally enter without a visa, but an emergency refueling flight of the Fly Dubai airline of the United Arab Emirates.
The plane had landed at Lucknow airport and I was worried. Perhaps the cause of this concern was that I had assumed that the Flydubai Airlines staff would make some arrangements in the international arrivals lounge at Lucknow airport for passengers to disembark. .
Due to the fact that Fly Dubai Airlines is a budget airline, there was very little food in the plane and after circling the Kathmandu skies for a long time,
when the pilot announced his return to Dubai, the flight attendant told the news that Now the food items in the plane will be offered to the passengers without any payment, but the food items were exhausted in the initial rows only some chocolates were left, so the majority of the passengers of the plane remained deprived.
We had to go to Kathmandu to participate in the aid campaign of Volunteers Ministers International for the emotional and mental rehabilitation of the earthquake victims as international volunteers after the severe earthquake that occurred in late April 2015. Many volunteers were already busy there with volunteers from different countries of the world.
I thought it would be better if I left on Tuesday, but I was told that I had to go on Monday to join a relief convoy heading to an earthquake-hit village further out of Kathmandu.
Our travel agent Asif Sahib told that on Monday only Fly Dubai seat is available for Kathmandu. Till that time I did not know that our other colleagues who had left earlier had traveled to Kathmandu by luxury airlines like Qatar Airlines and secondly Fly Dubai is a budget airline and friends may not know.
For their information, let us tell you that food, water, drinks have to be purchased during the flight in budget airlines if required, in addition, if the passenger is tall and his legs are not adjustable in the given seat space of the economy class. So one can get that seat by paying money to get a seat with a higher capacity.
Who knew that our arrival in Kathmandu was written only on Tuesday evening. While boarding the flight to Dubai from the Jinnah Terminal of Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, Karachi on Monday morning, we were sure to reach Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu by seven or eight in the evening.
I didn't even know that after a two-hour flight from Karachi to Dubai and then two one-hour transits at Dubai International Airport, after a six-hour flight from Dubai to Kathmandu, I would reach Kathmandu in a total of ten to eleven hours. We had no illusions that this journey would change in thirty six hours and instead of three international airports four international airports including Lucknow International Airport would be included.
Our worries were almost over when the flight attendants announced that the plane had landed at Lucknow International Airport only for refueling, so passengers would stay on board until refueling and the plane's doors would only open on Dubai. .
At night, our plane was standing in a far corner of the Lucknow airport. Now only the burning lights of the electric poles and a few trees were visible from the windows of the plane.
After a few hours, the plane flew back to Dubai and after about six hours of flight, we arrived safely at the Dubai International Airport where we were given a McDonald's meal coupon by flydubai.
After getting off the plane, first went to the rest room to freshen up and then went to McDonald's for food. We were told that now our flight would take off again to Kathmandu during the day,
so we rested, waited, bored and did whatever we could do in the face of this constraint and finally after a long wait we were back to Kathmandu. and this time after a routine flight of about six hours, our plane landed safely at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
Our first trip to Kathmandu will be memorable as what was probably a total of eight hours on two flights at three international airports, combined with almost two hours of transit, turned ten hours into two days and one night.
I traveled through four international airports, four flights spanning twenty-two hours and twelve or fifteen hours of transit, and so the journey that started from Karachi on Monday morning ended in Dubai, Lucknow, Dubai, Kathmandu on Tuesday evening.
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