Test flight at Patan Airport postponed
A test flight waiting to be done at Baitadi’s Patan Airport has become uncertain as the date for the flight gets postponed time and again. Though the test flight was scheduled to be held on 28 March, it was postponed due to complications created by lockdown.
After completion of the construction works of the airport on December 28, preparations were made to conduct a test flight on 28 March. Engineer Purnadev Rawal of Galva Chamalinga Jagdamba JV informed that the construction work of the black sheet, was completed last December.
The apron is 590 meters long and 20 meters wide, 70 meters long and 30 meters wide. It was said that the terminal building would be constructed after the test flight, but due to the lockdown because of COVID-19 virus, the contract process for the project could not go ahead. The construction work of the airport started in 1975 and the air service started in 1978. Patan Airport was closed since 1995.
Locals are happy that the airport, which had been turned into Gaucharan, grazing field for cattle will be reopened again. Local people believe that the operation of Patan Airport will make it easier for the locals to travel as well as to attract tourists in the village. Residents have to suffer the most to take the emergency and other patients to the hospital with no mechanical transport due to the airport being shut since many years.
Nar Bahadur Chand, president of the Baitadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the operation of the airport will help in promoting the religious and other tourist potential of the area and help uplifting the economic condition of the locals. After the operation of the airport, the locals from many places of Darchula, Dadeldhura, Doti and Bajhang including Baitadi will be comfortable for air service.
News Source: NagarikNetwork
