Apropos of the editorial “Before crisis hits” (THT, May 21, Page 6), one does not need to be a graduate of Delhi or London school of economics to understand the grave danger of the malfunctioning twin engines of depletion of foreign exchange and precarious trade imbalance to the airborne economy. Before the economy spins out of control, rather than talking and joking in the cockpit, the “pilot duo” must take steps in advance to encounter all eventualities during the inclement weather. Despite their hubris, wisdom and experience, unless they

act hastily to gain foreign exchange reserves and dump the unnecessary import loads such as unproductive vehicles and liquors, to name just two, the economy will likely wobble, hobble and rattle before spinning out of control. The sooner the pilots and other crew members, including doctors, start working on ways to replenish the foreign exchange and start dumping the non-essential imports, the better it will be for the stability of the economy. Since the crew running this country is all more than qualified, they are probably aware that the diagnosis at times involves taking hard decision during desperate illness. For example, the only way to fight gangrene is to chop off the leg(s), even seemingly healthy ones, or to remove a part of the brain to stem tumour. We believe our doctors and pilots will find the perfect diagnosis for the ailments and fly the economy on a higher trajectory of growth and prosperity.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Extended time

This is with reference to the news story “TIA officially starts operating 21 hours a day” (THT, May 22, Page 9). It is good news that Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) – country’s sole international airport – has extended its operation hour from 18 to 21. From Monday onwards, TIA will remain open from 6 am till 3 am.

However, it will take some time for the international airlines companies to reschedule their flights to TIA till the start of winter season. The government took this decision to ease air traffic congestion during peak hours when more than 400 take-offs and landing take place. Currently, most of the time aircraft are forced to stay on hold for hours. Even if the government extended the TIA’s operation time by three hours the international flights will not be able to change their flight schedules as they have already planned their flight till the winter season. In the meantime, the TIA management has also decided to give concession on fees for parking aircraft at TIA that plan to operate services during the extended time or off-hours. It also has plans to operate domestic flights during night time in major trunk routes such as Biratnagar, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi where night time flights can be operated. Once the extended hours become fully operational, the TIA authority also should consider operating it round-the-clock. It will certainly help increase inflow of foreign tourists.

Rabin Sharma, Kathmandu