Kathmandu: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has demanded the Finance Ministry to ensure financial resources for the expansion of three airports in Karnali and Lumbini Provinces. Rs 11 billion has been demanded to expand the airports of Surkhet and Jumla in Karnali Province and the Tarigaon airport, Dang in Lumbini Province.
According to National News Agency Nepal, section officer at the Tourism Ministry, Prakash Pokharel, informed that the Finance Ministry was proposed to ensure the financial resource for airport expansion. Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal had recommended the government to acquire lands for augmenting airport capacity. With this, the Council of Ministers decided to guarantee the financial resources.
Although Rs 5 billion was estimated to acquire lands for expanding the Tarigaon airport of Dang, the Finance Ministry is demanded allocation of Rs 10 million and the guarantee of the resource of Rs 990. Similarly, the Finance Ministry has been asked to allocate Rs 100 million and guarantee the resource of Rs 4.90 billion for acquiring land and expanding the Surkhet airport.
Rs 1 billion has been estimated for buying land and expanding the facility at Jumla airport, while allocation of Rs 100 million and resource of Rs 400 is urged. The Karnali Province government led by then chief minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi had forwarded an ambitious plan to operate the province government’s own air service. However, the province government’s plan to domestic and inter-province air service named ‘Karnali Airlines’ is in limbo.
The Shahi-led government had further announced the construction of a ‘high altitude’ airport in Mugu and an airport of an international standard in Surkhet. Even a Chinese company ‘North West’ had submitted a feasibility study to the province government for free of cost. Currently, Kathmandu-Surkhet-Kathmandu has four flights in a day. The number of flights to upper Karnali has radically declined.
In 2077BS, the province government had mooted a plan to even conduct night flights from Surkhet airport by expanding its runway up to 1,500 metres.