VVIPs arrival for the 4th BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit has been affecting the normal operation of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) since Tuesday (August 28).
TIA, the sole international airport of the nation is facing difficulties as the BIMSTEC meet is scheduled for August 30 and 31.
Myanmar President Win Myint arrived on Tuesday where flights operation was halted for nearly 25 minutes. Similarly, TIA was shut down for 30 minutes in between 7:45 am – 8:15 am for receiving delegates from Bhutan and 2:30 pm -3 pm to greet Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday.
TIA halted morning scheduled flights for more than an hour as the delegates from Thailand, Bangladesh along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Nepal today to attend the two-day Summit in Kathmandu on 30-31 August.
However, the airport will remain open for 24 hours during the summit to compensate for the delays caused.
Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has implemented new rules at TIA for the security of guests coming for BIMSTEC summit. The new system will be implemented for only short periods which allow only passengers but not other visitors to enter the TIA from the entrance gate.
If the passenger is ill or disabled in that case one person will be allowed to go along with him/her to the airport. Once the passenger queues up for the departure after check in then the assistant (relative) is requested to exit within 10-15 minutes.
