flydubai will launch flights to Nepal - its eleventh route, the low cost airline has announced.

flydubai's first flight to Kathmandu on Tuesday December 15, will ensure this increasingly popular destination in the foothills of the Himalayas will be more accessible to a greater number of people in the UAE..

Almost three times as many tourists have visited the region in the first half of this year as in the same period in 2008, it added.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, said: "Introducing Kathmandu will mean one of the most exciting travel destinations in the world becomes more accessible to people in the Gulf region. It will also give the Nepalese community of the UAE greater opportunity to visit home more often."