During surprise inspection carried out by the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) on Friday, officials found no improvement at all at TIA. Restrooms at the airport were unclean and they lacked soaps and towels.The surprise inspection was carried out under the leadership of OPMCM Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi.
OPMCM had carried out surprise inspection based on complaints like dirty restrooms, huge crowd at arrival and departure, hassles while receiving baggage, airlines officials misbehaving with passengers, among others.
The government had formed RRT under the coordination of a joint secretary at the home ministry in October last year following news reports in international media which portrayed TIA as third worst airport in the world. It comprised of officials from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labor and Employment, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, and Ministry of Finance.
'The Guide to Sleeping in Airports' -- a web portal that rates airports based on visitors feedback -- had listed TIA as world's third worst airport saying that the airport's cleanliness is a chief concern for those traveling through, with many remarking on the sorry state of the bathrooms, and the absolute lack of soap.
Following surprise inspection on Friday, Subedi has directed the officials concerned to activate RRT and work to solve various problems prevalent in TIA. The team has been asked to carry out regular inspection to ensure that the problems at the airport are solved and make suggestion to the government for improving condition of TIA.
The surprise inspection team has also instructed the TIA management to work for eliminating the system of filling up immigration form as all the required information of passengers is already available in passport and boarding pass. Likewise, the TIA management has also been asked to ease ticket and luggage checking system at the immigration. It has also suggested to the TIA management to use online system to keep record and exchange information between the airlines and the immigration.
Stating that the bank counter for VAT refund is located behind the immigration desk, the team has suggested making a provision for providing foreign currency exchange system at the same counter as the refund is made in Nepali rupee. Similarly, it has directed the airport to control use of VIP lounge.
In order to ensure that passengers get their luggage in time, the team has directed airport authorities to install X-ray machine in the conveyer belt and deploy sufficient staff members.
Likewise, it has instructed Nepal Airlines Corporation, which looks after ground handling, to make the respective airlines deliver missed and unclaimed baggage and submit it to the customs office if no claim is made within 90 days.
The team has instructed TIA management to add more escalators, make arrangement of resting area for transit passengers, and update departure and arrival time of the aircraft as fast as possible. Likewise, it has also instructed airport authorities to monitor activities of passengers through CCTV, and arrange better Wi-Fi and telephone service. TIA management has also been told to arrange sufficient trolley, manage airport taxi service, make taxi fare transparent and keep citizen charter visible to all passengers, among others.
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