CAAN bans paragliding from Sarangkot after Pokhara Int’l Airport comes into operation

POKHARA, Dec 28: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has decided to ban paragliding from Sarangkot starting from January 1 after the Pokhara Regional International Airport comes into operation. Paragliding, which is one of the major attractions of Pokhara, will be allowed only from Mandredhunga, which lies about 5 km west of Sarangkot.

The CAAN has made it clear that paragliding, which has been going on in the sky of Sarangkot, Pokhara for almost two and a half decades, will not be entertained anymore once the international airport comes into operation. The authority has also fixed the time for paragliding. As per the new rules, paragliding will be allowed only for four hours a day (11 am to 3 pm). Earlier, paragliding was allowed in the sky of Sarangkot from 9:30 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon.

According to the authority, until now paragliding has been done in four different zones (Sarangkot, Toripani, Mandredhunga and Tamagi) in Pokhara. However, paragliding from Sarangkot, Toripani and Tamagi has been banned and is allowed only from Mandredhunga from now onwards. The authority has decided to issue a NOTAM (A Notice to Airmen/ Air missions) about the removal of paragliding zones in Sarangkot, Toripani and Tamagi.

According to a CAAN source, the places other than Mandredhunga are close to the airport and paragliding is likely to cause air traffic congestion. Therefore, only Mandredhunga has been designated for paragliding. Similarly, the authority says that paragliding and hot-air balloons are not allowed within 5 nautical miles (9.26 km) of the air route. Such activities are banned within a range of 10 nautical miles from the airport.

The authority has said that paragliding in the Mandredhunga zone will be initially allowed for one month as test flights.

“If paragliding causes any problem in the air traffic, we will have to rethink about it after a month,” said a CAAN source requesting not to be named.

Kathmandu-Pokhara route will now have night flights. Earlier there was no night flight facility in Pokhara.

The new Pokhara airport will operate from January 1, 2023. From that airport, there will be night flights as well.

Buddha Air has set a date to start night flights at this airport from 23 February. The company has also said that it will make Pokhara a hub and expand flights to various destinations in the country. Other companies are also going to make Pokhara a regional hub.

Guna Airlines has also said that it will start flights from Pokhara to regional airports. With the start of flights from the new airport, it will be easy to reach Pokhara from different cities at night and return from Pokhara to other cities.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority Nepal , flights from this airport will be easy and safe due to the state-of-the-art infrastructure. Due to the installation of IFR technology at this airport, flights will not be stopped even in low visibility. So far, night flights are available only at Terai airport outside Kathmandu in Nepal.