KATHMANDU, Nov 9: Three federal ministers including the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Pandey, Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba, and Minister for Labor and Employment Sharat Singh Bhandari have shown interest to curb the excessive hike in airfares of international airlines triggered by the decreased operation time of the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) starting Friday.
The airport will be closed from 10 pm to 8 am for five months, from Friday to March 31, to facilitate the construction of two taxiways. Under normal operating conditions, the airport would open from 6 am to 2 am. The decrease in number of flights to and from the airport due to the partial closure, amid an increased demand of air tickets has prompted airline operators to increase air fares by as much as four times the original price.
The three federal ministers discussed the increased air fare with stakeholders amid a meeting with the representatives of foreign employment organizations voicing concerns that the workers going for foreign employment, especially to the Gulf countries, face financial hardship due to the increase in fares.
The ministers discussed alternatives such as opening the ban on using the airport in New Delhi for those going for foreign employment and facilitating more flights at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. Spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Gyanendra Bhul informed Republica that the decreased operation time of the TIA will decrease the number of flights by as much as 35 percent.
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During the discussion on Friday, businesspersons related to foreign employment emphasized that the government should take a decision on the increased airfare claiming that some airline companies may have formed a cartel under the pretext of closing the airport at night for the expansion of the taxiway of the airport.
Deepak Thapa, president of the Nepal Forum of Democratic Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs, said that there is an abnormal increase in international air fares from Nepal and that airlines companies and some travel agencies have a big hand in the price hike.
“Poor workers have been forced to buy air tickets four times the normal price,” he said at the meeting, “It is necessary for the government to take strict action to control the increase in airfare.”
During the discussion, Foreign Minister Rana Deuba mentioned that the government suffered the most losses due to the closure of the airport. She mentioned that the problem will be resolved by holding a meeting again under the chairmanship of the tourism minister and added that she would request the Indian government through the embassy to facilitate the passengers willing to board flights from Delhi.
Minister Bhandari informed the meeting that the trend of Nepali migrant workers who were going to labor destinations from Delhi at the request of manpower entrepreneurs was stopped some time ago after complaints of increased human trafficking during such travel.
Minister Bhandari requested the international airline operators with flights to and from the TIA to schedule flights from Bhairahawa and Pokhara airports as an alternative to the TIA. “Due to the increase in the price of air tickets, the tourists coming to Nepal are also in trouble,” he said, “If there are syndicates and cartels, they should be stopped. Emphasis should be placed on using Bhairahawa and Pokhara airports as alternative airports.”
Similarly, Minister Pandey mentioned that the price of domestic flight tickets has also increased due to the increase in air pressure due to floods and landslides ahead of Dashain and Tihar. “Earlier during Dashain and Tihar, air fares increased due to floods and landslides,” he said, “Now there has been an increase in air fares due to the fact that the flight time at the airport has been reduced at night in order to expand the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport.”
As per Minister Pandey, as soon as the information about the airport upgrade and closure surfaced, the airline operators planned to cut down the flights which has led to the increase in the air fares. Currently, three or four airlines are preparing to divert flights to Pokhara and Bhairahawa international airports.
