Although the contract period of blacktopping runway of Lamidanda Airport at Khotang has already finished but only 60% of work has been completed. The contract which was signed on 2073 Mangsir 17 was due to be completed by Magh in 2074. The construction company delayed the commencement of black topping of airport by 5 months and started it from Baisakh of 2074.
Construction Company YAN-SAP-Surya construction JV have only completed to keep sub-base, cutting and filling, keeping Gavin wall, and construction of drainage.
The contract was extended for 7 month after the initial contract time expired and as only 3 months is left for the extra time to be terminated, the construction company claimed to complete the work within the time. Engineer of the company Sambhu Chaudhari stated that the black topping of the runway will be completed within given time if there is no obstacle within the time period.
Lamindanda airport which operated since 2029 is the oldest airport of Khotang district. The airport was closed for blacktopping project. The project was initiated with investment of 6.76 crore from Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). According to contract 520 meter length and 20 meter width runway will be blacktopped out of 580 meter long runway.
The construction was delayed after village development committee stopped excavating stones and sands of Dudhkoshi River and the process for it became lengthy. According to the engineer Adhikari, the base will be placed very soon at the runway and then it will be blacktopped.
Previously, Nepal Airlines and Tara Air operated schedule flights to Lamidanda from Kathmandu and Biratnagar. Currently, some helicopter operators operate making a night stop at Lamidanda airport.
At present, the passengers can use the nearest alternative airport for the air service. The nearest airports to Lamidanda are Rumjatar Airport (8.09miles), Phaplu Airport (19.03 miles), Lukla Airport (30.28 miles), Kangel Airport, Tumlingtar Airport (32.43 miles) and Jiri Airport (37.52 miles).
