Meeting confirmed for the airspace negotiations with India
Kathmandu – 13 December 2016
The Tourism Ministry has given confirmation to held meeting with India about the air service regarding the international airports under construction. The meeting which will be held in New Delhi on December 20 will be attended by the eight members committee under the Joint Secretary Suresh Acharya. The Civil Aviation Authority Nepal (CAAN) will also have their representatives including from Tourism, Law and Foreign ministries and Nepal Airlines Corporation.
The key agenda that will be discussed in the talks includes about the entry points over Janakpur, Bhairahawa, Biratnagar, Nepalgunjand Odisha-Dhangadhi airspaces, forming the Kathmandu-Mahendranagar-Delhi (L626) route as a bi-directional route and evolving Trans-Himalaya 2 airspace. Likewise, the additional talks will be about the development of a search and rescue unit that will be used in the aircraft accident sessions according to the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
While a memorandum would be signed if the discussion would turn positive, the discussion will also include five cross-border entry-exit routes and the focus would be the routes through Janakpur, Nepalgunj and Odisha which are crucial for the airlines operating through international airports which are being built in Bhairahawa, Pokhara and Nijgadh.
The reason for establishing L626, a bi-directional route is to spread it from Kathmandu to Kunming via Bagdogra-Guwahati-Imphal, India for creating the suggested Trans-Himalaya 2 airspace joining Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe a veracity.
Trans-Himalaya 2 will be the money generating one and if it opens, it will provide the shortest way from China and the far East to the Middle East and Europe that will eventually save fuel and distances for the carriers from Nepal.
The agenda was proposed during the visit of Prime Minister NarendraModi in 2014.
