Kathmandu

Any airport, be it international or domestic, is comprised of a vast array of facilities, systems, users, workers, rules and regulations.

However, Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA), the only gateway to and fro Nepal in terms of air travel, is a different story.

Not only is it in a sorry state, but it has earned a reputation as one of the worst airports in the world based on comfort, service, facility, security and cleanliness.

Inefficient leadership

Just as cities prosper on trade and commerce with other cities, airports are successful in part by their ability to productively be the location where passengers and goods travel to and from other airports.

But with just one runway, that too developing cracks and potholes time and again, TIA is far from being on par with other international airports in terms of prospering. Although initially constructed in 1967 with the target to support some 196 tons, the runway has not been upgraded and is landing aircraft of around 300 tons in the recent years.

In light of the current plight, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has requested international airlines operating wide-body aircraft in Nepal to limit their landing and takeoff weight to 196 tons.

However, the request by the government to limit the air carrier size might come as a major hindrance in the operation of these flights.

According to Bhola Bikram Thapa, President of President Travel, there is a clear lack of leadership in the aviation sector which is holding back the development of the airport. “As a former Director on the board of directors at TIA, I know that changes cannot be brought about in a matter of days, but we are in need of someone who has the guts and is ready to take the lead,” he said.

Ramesh Dhamala, Executive board member of Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, put forward his views on how the airport signifies the state of nation. “People come to Nepal for the natural beauty it has to offer,” he said.

“But once they land at TIA, the pathetic scenario that greets them hints at their stay in Nepal. A negative outlook is generated towards Nepal even before they step out of the airport.”

Overburdened TIA

The runway crisis has highlighted the over dependence of the country on TIA for international flights and the need for a second international airport. However, the lack of timely government action in upgrading and improving the runway earlier remains the primary cause of the current problem.

“The size and scale of the airport is too small and there is a desperate need for another runway,” claimed Jaydeep Chakrabarti, General Manager of Radisson Hotel Kathmandu. “Not just that, the biggest complaint our guests have is regarding the baggage clearing area.

It needs to be improved for the betterment of the passengers,” he said. The area is completely mismanaged and the passengers on average wait for up to an hour to get their baggage from the conveyor belt.

Airlines also complain about TIA stating that the biggest problem for them as of now is the parking congestion. “When aircraft arrive, the main problem we face is the lack of parking space,” commented Vivek Jain, General Manager of Silk Air.

“Not just that, at times the aircraft have to hover for quite a while due to the air traffic congestion and fuel gets over-used.” Since fuel alone contributes to 52 per cent of total operation costs, circling in the sky accounts to losses in most cases.

Along with that, it delays the whole flight system of airlines for the day.

According to Purusottam Simkhada, President of Airport Air Passenger Transportation, there are certain changes that must be brought about immediately. “The first thing that must be managed is the arrival and departure section.

There must be separate areas for these two for smooth transition of passengers and luggage,” he said. “Everyone can understand that the area of our airport is small, but with a proper system, the crowding problem must be handled for now.”

He said that when it comes to controlling the crowd, the TIA management says the police has to be responsible and vice versa.

“The blame game is seen in every department at the airport. I hope they can fix this problem as soon as possible,” he concluded.

Absence of sound architecture

With everyone complaining about the crowding problem, Manjul Maskey, an officer at the immigration department at TIA has assured that for the past five months, the queue in his department has been moving as swiftly as possible.

“In the arrival section, a passenger has to spend just three to four seconds as we now have a new software,” he claimed.

According to Maskey, the immigration department deals with almost 10,000 passengers in a day and that there is no problem in their division.

Ashok Pokhrel, President of Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO), said the government has to bring in a professional to design the airport. “What defines an airport is its architectural quality.

But at TIA anyone can see that we lack that quality in every single aspect. From the dirty toilets to the separate and long queue of immigration and security, failure of management is reflected everywhere,” he exclaimed.

Sadly, the TIA Improvement Project, which was expected to upgrade TIA’s capacity to handle more than 5.85 million passengers annually by 2015, has been brought to a halt since the start of 2016.

The completion of project components were supposed to have upgrades such as enlargement of the runway, construction of new taxiways, extension of the apron, new lighting in the airfield, reform and expansion of the international terminal, installation of new system of carriage of baggage and several civil works and associated facilities.

According to the project document, once all the infrastructure, buildings and engineering work is completed, TIA will allow landing of bigger aircraft and tonnage while its apron will accommodate around 20 Boeing 757 aircraft.

However, now that the project has been stalled there is not much optimism that it will ever be completed. “Everyone plays the blame game here,” exclaimed Simkhada. “No one does their work properly and the political situation of Nepal must be blamed as well.”

Giving his views on the project, Pokhrel claimed that it is not the lack of money that is a hinderance to airport development. “This is not rocket science. Bring in an industrial engineer who can understand and work on the betterment of the airport,” he suggested.

Expansion alone may also not meet the many challenges faced by TIA. They must, for example, also address the growing demand for sustainable buildings and environmental protection.

Furthermore, the government has to consider whether the road and public transportation network can cater to the growing number of passengers coming in and out of the airport.

Along with that, the taxi fare also has to be uniformly maintained in order to protect passengers from being harassed. Though the challenges are many, there are also substantial benefits to be had if and when the airport improves as it directly affects both tourism and business.

Public-private partnership

“They must look at new ways to make the airport more accessible. Policy should be made by the government but they should let the private sector do the business,” claimed Bhola Bikram Thapa.

“Government must get stakeholders involved so that they will tackle the problems one by one.” According to Thapa, the inefficiency at TIA is due to lack of competition. “If the government lets different private players look after different departments, then the efficiency will go up as there will be constant competition between them,” he concluded.

Today more than ever there is a need for the country to strike the right balance between intended commitments and airport infrastructure.

According to the International Air Transport Association, air traffic is expected to grow by 5.4 per cent per year, reaching 3.91 billion passengers by 2017. This means individual airports all around the world must expand, along with building new international hubs and regional airports.

But then again looking at the progress at TIA and the way things move, Nepal will not be ready to take advantage of the potential to increase more visitors.