"A master plan for the purpose has already been prepared. The government will soon begin the land acquisition process," Murari Bhandari, a senior official at Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, told myrepublica.com.
As per the plan, the government will increase the length of runway to 1,500 meters from the present 1,300 meters.
"In order to increase the length of runway, we will need to acquire around 60,000 meters of land," Bhandari said.
The government believes the airport will be able to handle aircraft like ATRs -- which the government plans to use to bring pilgrims from south India -- after expanding the runway.
In order to handle the flow of passengers that is expected to increase after the runway expansion, the government is also constructing a new terminal building in the airport.
"We, however, have not calculated the budget required to build a new terminal building and expand the length of runway," Bhandari said.
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