TIA getting closer to upgrade its Runway
March 22, 2017 Kathmandu
Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is at the final stage of producing a $28-million contract for the renovation of its runway.
Total of four Chinese contractors have been pre-selected for the project. Chief of the runway renovation project Murari Bhandari said, “We will ask the financial proposals from the pre-selected contractors and one of them will be appointed to initiate the project.” The renovation project is expected to be awarded before the Dashain festival in September.
Bhandari also said that they need to work quickly and carefully in a properly managed schedule. The airport will have to shut down from 12 midnight to 6 am daily.
TIA has been prohibiting aircraft more than 196 tonnes to land on its runway to prevent from further damage. The repeated occurrence of cracks in the pavement has made aircraft vulnerable to land.
Repeated occurrences of cracks in the runway have been affecting smooth operation of aircraft since 2011. Mainly, the wide-body jets such as A330 and Boeing 777 have been causing damage to the runway layers.
The number of flight operations in TIA is expected to be doubled in the next 20 years. So, the runway has to be renovated accordingly to continue the smooth operation of the airport.
