Around one and half dozen companies are providing the adventure sport and three more companies are joining the business in the near future.
Millions of rupees have been invested in infrastructure to provide tourists the excitement of paragliding. [break]
Despite all this, no Nepali pilot has yet been provided license for paragliding. Some Nepali pilots are paragliding with their skill and experience, but they do so without any formal permission or accreditation.
According to the service providers, a large chunk of the revenue earned from the popular adventure sport has been going into foreign hands as Nepali youths are not officially allowed to operate paragliders.
They claim that the flights are operated by foreigners who come to Nepal as visitors and get involved in the business after getting a license from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal(CAAN).
“Nepali youths have the skill, experience, zeal and what not to pilot paragliders. But they have no license. Some of them are flying anyway, but it is done without permission,” said a service provider. “The government has done an injustice to the Nepali youths”, he added.
Despite receiving license, the foreign pilots do not have any work permit from the Nepal government. The foreigners are working with Nepali companies.
“They have license for paraglider piloting but lack work permits for Nepal. Had they been provided work permits, they would have come within the tax system. That would be beneficial for the state “ said one service provider.
According to a businessman involved in paragliding, the foreign pilots take 40 percent of the total amount paid by service seekers. “If Nepalis were provided license, the amount would have remained inside the country,” he said. “The paragliding pilots come to Nepal on tourist visas and work for five months in Pokhara. They then renew the visa every five months”, he added.
There are over 100 paragliding pilots in Pokhara but only around 20 Nepali pilots are involved in paragliding. Most pilots working in Pokhara are British, French, German, Bulgarian, Russian and Australian. All the 20 Nepali pilots are tandem flight operators. One is eligible to fly tandem only after flying solo for over 500 hours.
Nepali pilots are of the opinion that the paragliding business would flourish if Nepali citizens are also licensed. “Nepali youths are fit and able. Some who have the skills remain jobless as they lack the license,” said pilot Khum Bahadur Gurung. He also informed that over 80 Nepali youths have learnt to pilot paragliders so far.
Nepal Airsport Association (NAA) General Secretary Sobit Baniya informed that foreign pilots pay a fixed amount for paragliding in Nepal. According to Baniya, they pay 50 US dollars for the first 15 days and 25 dollars for each subsequent 15 days.
Baniya further informed that the government is planning to introduce separate regulations in January to monitor paragliding, and only then would Nepali pilots be provided license. Nepali pilots have been taking up paragliders by virtue of their membership of the Federation Aerotechnical International (FAI), the umbrella organization of paragliding companies.
According to Pradip Babu Tiwari of CAAN Pokhara office, a pilot without license takes full responsibly in case of any accident during flight. He also said that CAAN is not the proper body for providing work permits to foreign pilots.
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