MoTCA has been struggling hard to set the ball rolling for the solitary but much-needed Second International Airport (SIA) in Nijgadh.[break]
Apparently, the idea was mooted without due consultations with departments and ministries concerned, taking the MoTCA officials by surprise. The government has proposed to create necessary physical infrastructure at Gautam Buddha, Pokhara, Janakpur and Surkhet airports to convert them into international airports. Two of the proposed sites - Surkhet and Janakpur - were already considered in the past but the sites were found not appropriate for such expansion.
"We had not even entertained the private sector when it approached us for the management and operation of some of the airports by taking them on lease," said an official at Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). The private sector had requested to operate the Surkhet airport along with currently non-functional Dang, Sanfebagar and Tikapur airports.
CAAN had refused to entertain any new idea for these airports just a year ago.
"It is surprising that the budget has proposed to develop the same facilities into international level airports," the official added.
"It makes no business sense to set up an international airport in Janakpur, if Nijgadh airport project is on track," CAAN official said. Janakpur airport is only 125 km from SIA. The officials said tourist arrivals need to grow at least four times to make these projects viable.
Gautam Buddha, Bhairahawa and Pokhara, however, are feasible sites. CAAN has already begun upgradation of Gautam Buddha Airport and a preliminary study for the upgradation of Pokhara airport was conducted a year ago. Even donor agencies have expressed their interest in funding these airports. Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning to participate in the Gautam Buddha Airport project as a regional international airport and Chinese donors have recently expressed commitment to help upgrade the Pokhara airport to international-level airport.
Although the budget provides that the construction of SIA in Nijgadh will be started based on the feasibility report, the proposal for additional four airports is certainly going to distract the government from the much talked about SIA project.
South Korean company Landmark Worldwide Company will submit its final report to MoTCA after incorporating the ministry´s suggestions in the detailed feasibility study (DFS) report by the end of July. According to DFS report, SIA can be brought into operation by 2015 in the first phase with the capacity to handle 15 million passengers annually.
However, coordinator for the SIA project Ranjan Krishna Aryal said the work for SIA is going on smoothly and the government´s announcement to upgrade other airports into international airports was not going to have any adverse impact on the project.
Officials say the present air passenger flow is just too little to support four international airport.
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