As many as 53 passengers of Air Nepal International Pvt. Ltd (ANI), destined for various Gulf countries, have been stranded in Kathmandu for weeks with the airline suspending its flights without prior notice, the state-run Radio Nepal reported on Tuesday.

The airline has suspended all its flights from Dec. 22, 2005.

Organizing a press conference here on Monday, the passengers demanded either for alternative arrangements for their flight abroad or reimbursement of the airfare.

Many of the passengers, who work in various places of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Malaysia, had bought two-way tickets before they flew home from the countries they were working in.

"The ANI has not only shown indifference but managerial level staffs were not available at its office when we went for help," migrant worker in UAE Der Raj Subba said.

Like Subba, many others had booked return tickets to UAE, Qatar and Malaysia from ANI for 40,000 Nepali rupees (571 U.S. dollars) per ticket.

At the press conference, Subba said that the workers, who had been here on leave, might loose their jobs in foreign land if they do not reach on time.

Source: Xinhua