A year after its inaugural, the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) at Bhairahawa has been facing one setback after another in operating international flights, much to the chagrin of private sector investors who were expecting a windfall in their business. With the suspension of flights by Jazeera Airways since last week, there are now no international flights from Nepal's second international airport. The Kuwaiti carrier was the only airline operating international flights from the airport – three flights a week to Kuwait. With no carriers showing any interest in operating from the airport located where the Buddha was born, private investors have reason to be worried. According to the Lumbini chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the umbrella organisation of the Nepalese private sector, the private sector has invested a whopping Rs 60 billion in travel and tourism-related infrastructure and services targeting the project. They wanted to develop the area as a trade hub with high hopes that there would be mobility of 20,000 people daily. Failure to realise this dream has put all the investment at risk.

Much has been written as to why the airport has failed to come into full operation till now. For one, the airport has not been able to operate the Instrument Landing System (ILS), the radio navigation system that helps aircraft land during bad weather conditions, because India has not allowed its use as it interferes with its system at its airport in the neighbourhood. Because of this, both Jazeera and Himalayan Airlines had suspended flights in winter citing poor visibility.

India has also been dillydallying on providing ad-ditional air entry points, making it more expensive for airlines to fly to GBIA through the Simara corridor than to Kathmandu. The airport has not been able to entice international carriers for internal reasons, too.

In the absence of foreign tourists, most of the passengers that airlines can generate at the GBIA are migrant workers, who, however, still need to travel to Kathmandu for visa, medical examination and insurance to fly abroad. Manpower companies are holed up in Kathmandu and show no desire to shift their offices to Bhairahawa. Travelling from Kathmandu to Bhairahawa entails extra cost for the passengers.

The GBIA, built at a cost of US$ 76 million through loans raised from the ADB and OPEC Fund, is turning into a white elephant with only a handful of international flights a week even at the best of times. This is also the sorry state of the Pokhara Regional International Airport, Nepal's third international airport.

This couldn't have happened if the government was serious about operating them despite the problems they face. The GBIA should have been very attractive to foreign airlines as it offers 100 per cent discount on fees charged for plane landing, parking, communication and aviation services, and security check. And Nepal Airlines has been offering 50 per cent discount on fees for ground handling. A high-level task force with knowledgeable people should be set up at the earliest to resolve the issues facing the GBIA so that it can generate enough business to pay back the loan and also give a boost to the local economy.

Right decision

With the conclusion of the November 20 general elections, which produced a hung parliament in the centre and provinces, all the political parties are under pressure to undergo reforms when it comes to selecting candidates from the top to the local level. There is a general tendency among all the political parties to impose their candidates from the central committee or by the top leaders of the concerned parties. In most cases, the candidates imposed by the central leadership, but loathed by the grassroots-level party cadres or supporters, lose the elections.

There has been a growing call to revamp the selection process of candidates so that the most popular or deserving candidates get the ticket. Considering the demand at the grassroots level, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has decided to introduce the 'primary election system' while selecting candidates for all levels of elections. This system, if well implemented, will encourage youths to join politics based on meritocracy, and party cadres will throw their weight behind those candidates during the elections.

If all the major political parties also follow the RPP, only the deserving candidates will get party tickets, which will make politics people-centric.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 19, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.