KATHMANDU, Jan 4: The government has erected a statue of the Lord Buddha at the Tribhuvan International Airport as part of its preparations to transform the airport into a 'boutique airport'.
Amid a function held at the TIA, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattari unveiled the statue today.
Along with the statue, various things signifying unique culture of Nepal have been kept on display to further promote Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign.
"The foreigners will see the statue of Lord Buddha as soon as they arrive at the TIA. This is expected to help Nepal as the birthplace of Lord Buddha and promote Nepal's tourism," Minister Bhattarai said. According to Minister Bhattari, Rs 7 million was spent to construct the statue.
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TIA General Manager Rajan Pokharel said that they are rigorously working to transform the airport to a boutique airport. Now, the renovation of international terminal building has been intensified. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said that it was evaluating proposals for renovation of international terminal building as part of transforming Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) into a 'boutique airport'.
The government had put forward the concept of boutique airport in its policies and programs for Fiscal Year 2019/20 unveiled earlier this year. In its policy document, the government stated that arrangements will be made for developing TIA as a boutique airport that reflects original traditions and cultures, and operates round the clock.
CAAN officials told Republica that some 90% of landscaping works have been completed in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Under the airport project, silicon painting of exterior of international terminal building has been completed, a progress report produced by CAAN states. Similarly, the airport operator has signed contract agreements for the installation of Buddha statue, renovation of domestic terminal and canopy construction.
After conducting inspection of TIA earlier in August, Tourism Minister Bhattarai had directed the airport authorities to transform TIA into a boutique airport.
Highlighting the importance of enhancing services and facilities at the airport, Bhattarai had stressed the need to upgrade infrastructure and make necessary improvements to service delivery to make VNY 2020 – the yearlong tourism promotional campaign – successful.
The government unveiled plan to declare the sole international airport of Nepal a boutique airport by this year. For the purpose, the TIA management had geared up to beautify the airport by adding necessary aesthetic measures for upgrading the airport into a boutique airport.
The whole concept of boutique airport is to provide passengers with cultural and sophisticated experience that reflect Nepal after its transformation, the work progress report of CAAN states. The airport management has already implemented some measures like beautifying its premises, adding more trolleys, managing baggage claim area, and facilitating passengers by providing them prompt service.
Meanwhile, TIA has achieved 37% progress in expansion of terminal building and 33.87% in expansion of south runway. The report states that the airport management has completed 80% of taxiway rehabilitation work and installation of lights to keep the airport open for 24 hours.
