KATHMANDU, JANUARY 3
Following the inauguration of Pokhara Regional International Airport on January 1, the government has shut paragliding activities in Sarangkot, Torapani, and Tamagi paragliding zones in Pokhara to minimise air traffic and disturbances within 10 nautical miles of PRIA.
Issuing a notice, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal directed stakeholders to shut all paragliding activities in the three zones and conduct operations only from Mandredhunga from January 1.
Citing the need for large airspace to properly manage and conduct visual flight rules, instrumental flights rules, landing, take-offs, and a buffer zone between two air routes in Pokhara, the authority has decided to limit paragliding activities just to Mandredhunga, as managing activities in the region's air space for skydiving, ultra flights, and paragliding activities, alongside commercial flights would be challenging from the viewpoint of air traffic controller, a CAAN official told The Himalayan Times.
As per the notice, the regulatory body has also limited paragliding activities to just four hours a day - from 11:00am to 3:00pm. The authority will also study the impact of paragliding activities operated from Mandredhunga for a month and will make necessary changes if such activities create any sort of disturbance in conducting takeoff or landing at the airport.
Meanwhile, the Nepal Airsports Association has been allowed to operate flights only by determining slots and schedules to ensure air safety and security. Every paragliding flight within 10 nautical miles of the airport in the permitted zone will now require passengers to be given a boarding pass. The responsibility of regulating and monitoring paragliding activities, providing boarding passes, and submitting the data of flights conducted from the paragliding zone has been given to the Nepal Air Sports Organisation
NAA President Sunil Bhattarai said paragliding operators welcomed CAAN decision to allow paragliding activities in Mandredhunga.
"Operators feared a complete halt of paragliding in Pokhara after the new international airport became operational.
"We are grateful for the CAAN's thoughtfulness in allowing paragliding activities, even though it is just in one zone."
According to him, as Mandredhunga lacks proper infrastructure to immediately resume paragliding activities for commercial purposes, the association is working towards creating a suitable environment for paragliding operations from the area to ensure air safety and security.
"Although the decision has affected paragliding operators, we are more than happy to compromise rather than have to completely shut our businesses," he said.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 4, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
