Nepal government has requested international airlines companies to operate flights with narrow-body aircraft as Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), sole international airport of Nepal faces crack on the runway frequently.
Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) asked international airline companies to lessen the flight frequency with wide-body aircraft officially on meeting held at Kathmandu on Wednesday. The authority has asked international airlines companies to cooperate by opting narrow body aircraft until TIA does not complete rehabilitation project. Equally, the international airlines companies have shown optimistic response to the appeal of TIA and CAAN.
More than two dozen international airlines operate flights at TIA and some of them operate with wide-body aircraft where such aircraft increase high risk to deteriorating the runway. Similarly, the continuous rainfall has worsened the condition of the runway. The runway of TIA has cracked nearly 3 times within two months disrupting regular flight operations at TIA.
Previously, TIA remained closed for a moment after a crack was spotted on the runway on August 3. Due to which, half dozen of the aircraft were hold on the air and most of the airlines failed to operate flights according to their schedule.
The overall runway renovation of TIA is only possible after the operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA). So, TIA has to operate with the strained runway.
