Domestic Terminal of Tribhuvan International Airport shifts to a newly built building.
18 May, 2016 – The domestic terminal of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu has been transferred to a new building today. The terminal has been shifted to this building has been given name of ‘NX Domestic Terminal; Building and associate workers’ which was constructed by the government source of Civil Aviation.
The new building features three main halls of Departure, Arrival and Cargo of which the departure hall is the largest. This hall will include the security check section, airlines offices and check-in counters, restaurant, tax/airport office, ticketing area, baggage dispatch area and ATM lounges.
The arrival hall will include sections of baggage claim, stalls, coffee shop and telephone service. The way for the cargo and entrance of passengers will be separate unlike the same passage in old terminal. A separate security check part has been mobilized in the cargo hall too.
Because of the ever increasing number of travelers making the old terminal congested, Civil Aviation of Nepal started to construct new building since January 16, 2013. A sum of 909 million was allocated for the cost of construction of the building. The construction project was accomplished by three construction companies working together.
The assistant director of airport Murari Bhandari said that the building brought into operation from today was contracted to the builders for completion of the project in one year. But pointing a lot of problems the construction companies Gauri Parbat-Chakreswari and Sunaula Khimti couldn’t complete the project even in an extended period for completion. Thus the building came into operation a long two and half years late. However the small incomplete works still remain unfinished.
The new building was inaugurated jointly by the Tourism Minister Aanand Pokhrel and Tourism Secretary Prem Kumar Rai by cutting a ribbon. According to an advocate of the airport Bhola Guragai the cost of the construction increased up to 110 Million after four times of amendments. The building started serving the travelers from today morning even before it got inaugurated.
New building features 15 counters of different airlines. There has not been made any rigid decisions about the now empty old buildings of the airport which served domestic terminal for passengers till yesterday. But the assistant director of Civil Aviation who has been handling civil engineering department of CAAN told that the old building will be used as airside hall where airline counters existed before.
The airside hall lies under the supervision of security forces after the boarding pass is provided to the passengers. The hall serves as waiting and resting room for travelers ready for boarding. The cafe that was shut after the earthquake has also been shifted to new building and operates now.
