KATHMANDU, Feb 18: Mechanical test flights (calibration flights) are being carried out at the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) in Bhairahawa from today. The calibration flights will be carried out for a week. GBIA is a project of national pride.

According to the airport, commercial flights will be operational from May 16- Buddha Purnima.

The responsibility of carrying out the calibration flights has been given to Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (AERO THAI).

The work related to the physical construction and equipment connection of Gautam Buddha Airport has been completed. 

The flight is about to take place to test whether the new airport is technically sound. A team of experts from AERO THAI arrived in Bhairahawa on Thursday for a mechanical test flight. The special aircraft of AERO THAI has an expert team including a pilot and a co-pilot.

According to Pradip Adhikari, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, a specially-equipped aircraft from Bangkok is starting the calibration flights from today.

The special aircraft brought by AERO THAI, which is also responsible for installation of equipment at the airport, will test whether the equipment, including communication for landing installed under international competitive bidding (ICB)-01 is working properly or not.

The technical team has been working at the airport to direct the flight and landing as well as other tasks, to test the equipment related to the control tower, to determine the frequency, communications, runway alignment, electrical equipment connected to the area including parking way, connected lights, ground system etc. 

The construction work of the physical infrastructure of ICB-01 has been completed by the Chinese company Northwest Civil Aviation Construction Group. After the calibration flights, test flights will be conducted from the Airbus aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation. According to CAAN, the test flights, which will start with the clearing of the weather in the morning, will last for about a week.

During that time, regular flights to Bhairahawa will be completely closed. According to CAAN, a briefing will be held between CAAN and the calibration team on Friday. According to the current schedule, the aircraft will return to Thailand on February 28 after completing the test. And after 15 days, AERO THAI will submit a report to CAAN.

It will take some time for the airport to be recognized as an international airport after the test flight. Currently, the airport will be operated by the CAAN itself.

According to sources in the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, discussions are underway with the Indian side to open the way for commercial flights at the airport. Earlier, India had been informing Nepal that the airport was close to the border area, which could pose a security challenge.

During the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had raised the issue of Nepal-India air entry point in his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Despite Nepal's request to the Indian government to provide air entry points from Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Mahendranagar, India is not in favor of the operation of the airport.

Various operational modalities are being discussed for the operation and management of GBIA and the staff has already been managed by CAAN. The authority has already decided the posts of 150 employees for the operation of the airport.

The project was originally scheduled to be completed in December 2017 as per the initial target of completing the construction within three years. The construction of the airport has been completed at a cost of around Rs 31 billion with a concessional loan from the Asian Development Bank.

As soon as the airport with 3,000-meter-long and 60-meter-wide runway comes into operation it will facilitate the management of Kathmandu Airport. At present, international flights are being operated from Kathmandu Airport to 32 destinations in 15 countries. The operation of this airport is expected to be more convenient for Buddhist tourists.

 
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