A decades old Rajbiraj Airport is under the construction phase and will see its runway blacktopped by Karthik, 2074 subject to different circumstances. The airport enhancement project is going on for more than seven months and now will require minimum of four months for completion.
The Project Manager of Rajbiraj Airport Er. Ram Iqbal Mahato said, “Currently, we are working on the base construction of the runway and more than 800 meters of base construction has been completed. It will require minimum of five more days the base completion.” We will initiate blacktopping of runway from Bhadra 15, 2074 but some circumstances such as adverse weather condition and local election could extend the deadline, he added.
According to Mr. Mahato, the total length of the airport is 1765m out of which 1500m has been allocated for the runway. Likewise, the size of apron is 60 by 90 meters. He also added that the airport after the completion can accommodate ATR 72 aircraft also.
Kancharam Rama Dev Joint Venture, the contract for the airport project is building the runway with the allocated budget of Rs303 million however; only Rs180 million has been dispatched so far. The construction was expected to be completed by Jestha, 2074 but got delayed after the Kancharam Construction Company got another tender to blacktop the runway of Biratnagar Airport.
The airport was inaugurated in 1959 A.D. by NC leader Late Ganeshman Singh but it has already been almost four years that the airport is out of operation. Previously, the airport used to conduct Lamidanda-Rajbiraj and Phaplu-Rajbiraj flights. After the completion, Rajbiraj Airport will conduct flights in Kathmandu- Rajbiraj and Rajbiraj-Biratnagar route.
