KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 30
An aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation leaving for New Delhi from Tribhuvan International Airport was denied take-off by airport authorities this afternoon, leaving 254 passengers stranded.
The aircraft with call sign RA 217 was not given clearance as its flight was not scheduled for the day. The flight was cancelled after passengers were issued boarding passes by NAC, according to Teknath Sitaula, spokesperson for TIA.
According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the regulatory body reduced the NAC's flights to New Delhi from TIA to 10 from 14 flights per week starting today. The NAC was directed to conduct at least one flight to/from Gautam Buddha International Airport for three flights operating at TIA to manage the existing air traffic in TIA and for effective utilisation of GBIA.
"The NAC had clearance to take off for New Delhi during the morning schedule but was not permitted to conduct the afternoon flight. Despite the fact that NAC officials knew there was no flight scheduled in the afternoon, they did not inform passengers, but rather distributed boarding passes to them. We have sought clarification from NAC within 24 hours regarding ticket sales of an unscheduled flight, troubling passengers, and disrupting security at the airport," Gyanendra Bhul, information officer at CAAN, said.
According to him, CAAN had sent circulars and notices multiple times to airline companies to conduct their flights from Bhairahawa, citing traffic congestion at TIA. "With the start of the winter schedule from October 30 till March 25 of 2023, CAAN had directed them to conduct one flight from GBIA per three flights from TIA, which they have not done so far. The airline companies have been singing the same tune of needing more time."
On October 22, CAAN had sent a notice mandating international airlines conducting more than three flights a day to allocate a flight from GBIA from December 16 onwards as they would require more time. But for domestic airline companies making flights to India, the authority had reduced the number of flights from TIA to 10 from 14 per week. "The domestic airlines have to allocate four flights from GBIA per week from now on," Bhul added.
According to him, the traffic congestion at TIA has peaked, causing hours-long flight delays and the airport is in dire need of maintenance as well.
A high-level meeting has also decided to add the required infrastructure at GBIA within 15 days after the Tihar festival for proper facilitation of services from the airport.
Meanwhile, Ramesh Poudel, deputy director at the commercial department of NAC, argued that allocating an aircraft to GBIA is useless if there are no passengers, and also asserted that the corporation needed some time to study the viability of operating flights in and out of GBIA.
"Two weeks are not enough. We have requested until December to be able to submit a schedule and conduct flights from GBIA," he said.
According to him, as many as 254 passengers were leaving for India in the cancelled flight today, while 193 people were waiting to catch the same flight back to Nepal.
He further said that Jazeera Airways has reduced the number of flights from GBIA due to the low number of passengers.
"How can another airline company not hesitate to conduct flights from GBIA when the airline offering services to that airport is already facing troubles?" he reasoned.
Poudel also clarified that airline companies are ready to move to GBIA but need some time to explore and study the area for business purposes.
"We are happy to move to GBIA in December, but not now. We need to conduct research and study before releasing our schedule and start selling tickets," he explained, adding that talks will be held with the concerned ministry regarding the immediate shift to GBIA.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 31, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
