Nepal to commence flying ops from second international airport starting May 26: Minister

All international flights can take off and land at the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) from May 26, the Minister said.

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Prem Ale, Nepal's Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation on January 30, announced the commencement of Nepal’s second international airport. As per officials, Nepal's second international airport will begin its operations in May. 

“All international flights can take off and land at the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) from May 26, the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha,” Ale informed while inspecting the airport under construction in Bhairahawa, situated in Western Nepal.

If there is any technical problem in the plane flying in the Nepali sky, the situation of diverting the airplane to Kathmandu for emergency landing will come to an end. At present, there is no alternative to returning to the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) for an emergency landing. 

For emergency landings, the planes will not have to be either diverted to India or head to the Kathmandu airport once GBIA comes into operation. Currently, only TIA has emergency landing facilities with foam and fire' vehicles. Arrangements have been made at GBIA for its operation. 

The GBIA, which is being prepared for operation, also has minimum standards required for an emergency landing as per the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. Aircraft that could not land in Kathmandu due to problems and adverse weather will now be able to land safely in Bhairahawa. 

An expert team of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (AeroThai) has already arrived in Nepal to prepare for a mechanical test flight (calibration flight) to verify whether the new airport is technically sound or not. The construction work of the physical infrastructure of the airport has been completed by the Chinese company Northwest Civil Aviation Construction Group. 

A team of AeroThai experts will fly the calibration flight to find out if the flight equipment is working. According to airport officials, the calibration and test flight will be carried out within a month. "A team of AeroThai experts is working to bring the airport into operation on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti," the officials informed. 

With inputs from PTI