Dubai’s direct flight to Pokhara began on 23 September 2026, when a flydubai Boeing 737 MAX touched down at Pokhara International Airport carrying 113 passengers. It was met with a water salute, the city’s mayor, and a crowd of people from Pokhara’s tourism community who had been waiting a long time for this. An hour later the same aircraft left for Dubai with 153 passengers on board.

For the first time, Pokhara has a regular international air link.

Pokhara’s mayor, Dhanraj Acharya, called the approval of the route a historic opportunity to strengthen Pokhara’s international profile.

The Dubai-Pokhara flight schedule

flydubai now operates a daily service between Dubai International Airport and Pokhara International Airport, departing from Terminal 3 in Dubai. The flight takes about four and a half hours.

The route runs as part of flydubai’s codeshare with Emirates, which matters more than it might sound. It means a single ticket for the whole journey, baggage checked through to Pokhara, and onward connections handled as one booking rather than several. Dubai connects onward to more than 300 destinations across the Middle East, Europe, Africa and beyond.

flydubai is the first UAE carrier to fly directly to Pokhara. It has served Kathmandu for seventeen years, and Pokhara is its second Nepali destination.

What changes for Travelers

Until now, almost everyone flying into Nepal landed in Kathmandu. Getting to Pokhara afterwards meant either a domestic flight often delayed, frequently cancelled in poor weather or a bus journey of seven to eight hours along the Prithvi Highway.

That step is now optional. If your route takes you through Dubai, you can fly to Pokhara directly.

The practical effect is mostly about time. Arriving at 6:15pm means you clear immigration and reach Lakeside in the evening, with the following morning free. Previously, a Kathmandu arrival usually meant losing most of a day to the connection, and sometimes a whole day if the domestic flight was pushed back.

It’s also worth knowing what the airport is like. Pokhara International opened in January 2023 and has handled mostly domestic traffic since. A Pokhara-Lhasa route ran briefly in 2025 before being suspended. So this is the airport’s first sustained international service, and it’s small, calm and quick to get through a different experience from arriving in Kathmandu.

Round-trip fares from Dubai to Pokhara started at AED 1,900 (about US$520) in Economy Lite and AED 5,000 (about US$1,360) in Business Class when the route launched. Fares vary with dates and demand, so check with flydubai for current prices.

Things to do in Pokhara

If you have never been, Pokhara sits at around 800 meters beside Phewa Lake, with the Annapurna range rising to more than 8,000 meters to the north. On a clear morning you can see Machhapuchhre – the Fishtail – from the lakeside, still holding snow while you eat breakfast in a t-shirt.

Trekking

Pokhara is the starting point for most Annapurna treks: the Annapurna Base Camp route, Poon Hill, and the longer Annapurna Circuit. But you don’t have to walk anywhere to justify the trip.

Adventure sports

Pokhara is one of the best paragliding sites in the world, thanks to reliable thermals off Sarangkot and a landing zone beside the lake. There is bungee jumping, ziplining and hot air ballooning. The Seti River runs through a gorge in the middle of the city. Begnas Lake, twenty minutes out, is quieter than Phewa and good for a day.

Rafting and kayaking from Pokhara

Pokhara sits closer to Nepal’s best whitewater than anywhere else in the country. The Upper Seti is half an hour from Lakeside – steep, technical, Class III+/IV, and doable in a morning. The Kali Gandaki runs through one of the deepest gorges in the world, between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, on a three-day trip with beach camping. The Trisuli, Sun Koshi, Karnali and Marsyangdi are all reachable from here, from single days to twelve-day expeditions.

There’s canyoning in the waterfalls around the valley, and kayak and paddleboard rental on Phewa Lake itself if you want something gentler.

The 6:15pm arrival works well for this. Land in the evening, sleep in Lakeside, and you can be on the water the next morning something that was rarely possible when everyone came through Kathmandu.

We have been running rivers out of Pokhara for more than twenty years. If you are coming through Dubai and want to work out what fits your time and experience, get in touch – we’re happy to talk it through, whether or not you end up paddling with us.

Flying home to Pokhara from the UAE

The route works in both directions. There is a large Nepali community in the UAE, and until now going home meant flying to Kathmandu and continuing from there. For anyone from Pokhara, the Annapurna region or the western hills, a direct flight removes a whole leg of the journey – and makes shorter trips home realistic in a way they weren’t before.

Booking: flights are available on flydubai.com, the flydubai app, or through travel agents.

Flight times and fares correct as of 24 September 2026. Check with flydubai for current schedules.