Crowded, limited air space hits paragliding business

POKHARA, Oct 27: Despite the increasing number of paragliding operators and tourists, limited flying space has badly hit the business. Although paragliding was introduced in Pokhara about 15 years ago, Sarangkot is the only permitted place by the government for paragliding. Out of 19 registered paragliding operators 16 are in operation.



Operators said they were not able to provide service as per the demand because of crowded and limited space. According to entrepreneurs there was also the threat of accidents because of increasing number of flights in the limited space.[break]



Paragliding operator Basanta Raj Dawadi said, “The space is limited and a number of flights are operated at the same time which is likey to cause accidents.” He futher said that it was fortunate that there has been no major incident so far but the sky of Sarangkot was becoming risky.



According to Dawadi more than 100 tourists fly in one schedule and the duration between one flight to other is very minimal. “The skies of Sarangkot has the capacity for 50 flights in one shcedule,” said he.



Paragliding has become one of the most popular tourist activities as the result of which number of operators also doubled in two years. However, the companies are not able to operate their service as there is no alternative spot other than Sarangkot. Not just that. The operators are also suffering losses during bad weather as they need to cancel the operation. “If there was alternative spot, the service could be diverted to the place where the weather is better,” said he.



Secretary of Nepal Air Sports Association Narayan Parajuli said if Sarangkot is used for commercial flight only, the pressure could be reduced. At present both solo and tandem flights have permission to operate from Sarangkot. “The nearby hills from Pokhara like Toripani, Korchen, Dhikidanda and few places in Syangja are convenient for solo flights,” Parajuli said.



Although feasibility study of paragliding have been carried in other places, the companies have not started operation as it was not economically viable, according to the tourism entrepreneurs. They say developing nearby places from Pokhara was better option as the flow of tourist in Pokhara was higher.



French pilot Christoph said, “Sarangkot is the best place to take off for Paragliding but it is congested now.”

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