Jazeera Airways has proposed to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to operate the flight at Gautam Buddha International Airport, Bhairahawa. Nepal Airlines Corporation is preparing for a test flight on April 14. Jazeera Airways is the first foreign airline that offers to start commercial flights at the airport.
“Jazeera has proposed daily Kuwait-Bhairahawa-Kuwait flight. No other foreign airline has offered to fly to Bhairahawa airport except Jazeera,” As per the officials of CAAN.
Jazeera is currently operating daily with Airbus 320 on the Kuwait-Kathmandu route. According to the airlines, Kuwait-Kathmandu, which has a flight distance of about five and a half hours, is on a lucrative route with a lot of labor. The Government of Nepal had signed an air service agreement with Kuwait 16 years ago.
The government has also started preparations to attract international airlines. According to CAAN officials, CAAN has sent a proposal to the Council of Ministers through the ministry to provide a full discount on landing and parking fees for the first six months and charge only 50 percent for the second six months. The government’s decision has not been made yet.
The official said that the work of amending the policy and regulations related to international flights is still pending. These include placing Bhairahawa on the list of international airports, making rules regarding financial fees, staffing, and inter-office coordination.
The Thai Aero Thai Company aircraft had conducted a calibration flight at the airport for 6 to 10 days last February. After the test, Aero Thai’s technical team submitted a report to Director-General. On Thursday, CAAN had issued an aeronautical information regulation and control stating that the airport was ready to fly.
The AirRack includes detailed technical information about the new airport’s air routes, runways, navigation, flight management systems, and available service facilities. Stakeholders are given up to 45 days to take suggestions after the issuance of AirRack. Suppose any errors need to be corrected or information added during this period. In that case, the authority should send them to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The 45-day period ends on April 720. After that, the airport will be opened for emergency landing of aircraft which could not land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Bhairahawa. International flights have been landing in Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata, India, and Dhaka, Bangladesh, due to the inability to land in Kathmandu.
The current runway of Bhairahawa Airport will be converted into a taxiway after the commencement of commercial flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport. The Gautam Buddha Airport, which has a runway of 3,000 meters, can accommodate five narrowbodies and 4 ATR aircraft. The length of this runway, which can also fly widebody aircraft, is only 356 meters shorter than that of Tribhuvan International Airport.
