Dubai, June 25 — With Nepal’s biggest annual festival still three months away, Dubai to Kathmandu Dashain airfares are already soaring. Airfares for October — coinciding with Dashain, the country’s most important holiday — have jumped well over 100% compared to off-season rates in July.
A quick scan of Skyscanner shows that fares begin to climb by mid-September, with October return tickets nearly tripling in cost. Here’s how prices are trending:
📊 Dubai → Kathmandu Return Fare Trends (Dashain Season 2025)
| Month | Return Fare (AED) | Approx. USD | % Increase vs. July |
|---|---|---|---|
| July–August | AED 1,190 | ~USD 324 | — |
| September | AED 1,600 | ~USD 435 | +34% |
| October | AED 2,700 – AED 3,500 | ~USD 735 – ~USD 950+ | +127% – +194% |
Airlines including FlyDubai, Air Arabia, Himalaya Airlines, and Nepal Airlines operate direct flights between the UAE and Nepal. These carriers typically increase capacity or adjust schedules during Dashain, but this rarely flattens prices amid overwhelming demand.
“My ticket cost me AED 2,250 which is nearly double what it would cost in May,” said Dilmaya Tamang, a cleaner in Dubai heading home to Kathmandu after a gap of two years.
With over 300,000 Nepali expats in the UAE alone, Dashain marks one of the busiest outbound travel periods for this community. The Dubai to Kathmandu Dashain airfares hike mirrors other South Asian travel surges seen during Diwali, Eid, or Christmas, where fare hikes are driven more by seasonal demand than distance or fuel costs.
Nepal’s only international hub, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, typically handles over 1.5 million passengers during the combined Dashain and Tihar period. Congestion and delays are common — but for many, this is the only trip home all year, and for some, once in two.
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