CAAN's decision to shift most of the aircraft to six airports will help manage parking congestion at TIA
For the first time in Nepal's 74 years of civil aviation history, domestic airlines started their first flights of the day on Tuesday from six airports located in all the seven provinces to Kathmandu. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) took the decision to shift many of the 52 domestic aircraft outside the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) to the six designated base airports for overnight halt to ease the parking congestion at the TIA. According to CAAN officials, 11 aircraft – five of Buddha Airlines, three of Shree Airline, two of Yeti Airlines and one of Guna Airlines – all private airlines – shifted their aircraft to Biratnagar, Janakpur, Bhairahawa, Pokhara and Nepalgunj for overnight rest. Purna Chudal, head of the domestic terminal at the TIA, said the decision to shift the aircraft of the private airlines and Nepal Airlines really helped them manage the parking congestion at the TIA, which is overcrowded with too many aircraft on limited space. Others are also planning to shift their aircraft outside Kathmandu for overnight halt. With the new rule coming into force, all the airlines are required to reschedule their flights from outside the TIA. Chudal said the move would benefit air travelers from outside Kathmandu, from where more than 290 flights are operated to different parts of the country on a daily basis.
Prior to the decision, domestic arrivals to Kathmandu from other airports could only be scheduled after 10 am as all aircraft used to be parked at the TIA. From Tuesday onwards, six airports, including Dhangadhi, will start their first flights to Kathmandu at 6 am, a measure that will save the time of the passengers flying to Kathmandu while the hospitality business in these cities will grow. Chances of flight delay to-and-from Kathmandu due to congestion at the TIA will also be lessened to a great extent as most of the flights will be handled from the six airports from early in the morning.
The decision to shift most of the aircraft outside the TIA – 35 out of the total 52 aircraft – was necessary as the domestic area at the TIA had parking capacity for only 17 aircraft. It had resulted in persistent problems, such as delay in taking out an aircraft from the parking lot and hold-up of domestic flights. However, the airline companies had protested against the CAAN decision and even threatened to halt all flights over the rule. But they backed out of their protest after the government threatened to revoke their operating licences. The CAAN had instructed all the airlines to make their last flight to the designated base airports for the overnight halt and conduct their first flight the next morning from the same airport starting from June 27. This rule is also applicable to helicopter companies. But there are some issues that need to be sorted out before it comes into effect.
CAAN's decision to move most of the aircraft outside the TIA is a welcome step. Many flights used to be delayed or even cancelled, especially during the rainy season, as almost all the domestic flights would start their daily flights from the TIA, making it difficult to manage air travel to-and-from the federal capital.
This decision will also help other airports develop as aviation hubs, stimulating economic activities in all the provinces.
Girls' absenteeism
School drop-out and absenteeism among adolescent girl students are serious problems in Nepal, and this has partly to do with lack of separate toilets and other sanitary facilities for them in schools.
Many schools in rural Nepal still don't have bathrooms, and even if they do, they are used by both boys and girls. So, when adolescence sets in, girl students are ashamed or find it uneasy to use the toilets, especially after menarche starts. In a bid to retain girl students and also prevent absenteeism during their menstruation, the government has set aside a huge budget to distribute subsidised sanitary pads to the girls studying in more than 30,000 community schools across the country.
However, the pads are distributed to the local schools by the local levels, and inability or negligence by them can deprive the girl students of these pads, as has been the case in Budhiganga Municipality in Bajura district. No pads were distributed throughout the fiscal year 2021-22, and the Rs 2,650,000 released for the pads will most probably be returned to the government. The local levels are now responsible for the education of their student population, and there must not be any lapses that could hinder it.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 30, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
