Tourist arrivals in Nepal by air in May have increased by 6 percent to 26,634 compared to the same month last year, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to the figures released by the Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport, the only international airport in the country, arrivals from China and India, a major tourist market for the country, have achieved sustained growth.

Since June 2009, arrivals from India and China have registered double-digit growth, reported The Kathmandu Post daily.

Visitor arrivals from India have increased by 4.3 percent, which showed sustained growth this year, except for a soft decline in April. A total 9,726 Indian tourists arrived in Nepal in May compared to 9,324 arrivals in the same period last year.

In the first five months of the year, 37,325 Indian tourists have arrived in Nepal by air compared to 34,537 last year.

In May, 1,024 Chinese tourists arrived in Nepal by air compared to 772 in the same period last year.

According to the airport figures, in the first five months of the year, 11,271 Chinese tourists came to Nepal compared to 6,583 in the same period last year.