There has been gradual increase in number of passengers using air transport mode by 9.63% in 2017 compared to the ten months from January to October 2016 according to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
Total of 3,111,063 passengers have used air service for international travel in the 10 months of 2017 from January whereas number of international passengers was 2,838,238 in 2016. In 2016 the number of passengers in domestic travel was 1,411,013 million compared to 1,992,903 in 2017.
There has also been increment in airlines by 23.48% as in the 10 months of 2017: 27,409 airplanes took off and in 2016: 21,671 planes took off. Contradiction to cargo sector, only 16,229 tons have been transported in 2017 while 17,382 tons were transported in 2016.
The revenue collection in the economic year 2073-2074 excluding airport fees as reported by CAAN was 5 billion and 564 million rupees whereas total expense was calculated to be 5 billion 787 million 400 thousand rupees.
On the occasion of 19th anniversary of CAAN, Director General Mr. Sanjeev Gautam informed that all the attention is given to aviation safety and service presently and he also added that the focus is on the infrastructure development so that the maximum number of passengers can be served.
Airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) president Mr. Pabitra Kumar Karki stated that the undeveloped infrastructure have caused the local airlines to suffer loss. Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), Mr Maheshwor Neupane said the Authority has been trying from the past 3 years to run the bonus distribution smoothly but has failed due to legal problem till today.
