Newly appointed Honorable Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Bhattarai has made an official visit to under construction second international airport at Bhairawa. The minister after visiting the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) airport and thoroughly checking the progress of the airport, instructed the contractors to complete the project by the end of this year at any cost. He has demanded a list of tasks to do and authorities to activate to have the project finished within December by advancing the remaining construction in an aggressive manner.
This is the first visit of Tourism minister paid a visit, after he got appointed as Tourism Minister on July 31. With GBIA, Tourism Minister has also put focus on commencing of construction of Nijgadh International Airport in Bara district. He has also made a commitment to construct the airport with a minimal harm to the environment. He has also committed to start upgradation of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu as soon as he returns back to Kathmandu. Up gradation of terminals and parking and addition of aerobridges are also in the pipeline for TIA.
Most of the major tasks of GBIA have been done. The construction work has reached a final stage and roofing work is going on at presently. The runway, taxiway, parking, apron, control tower, terminals, departure and arrival buildings have been constructed already and the total construction is very near to the completion.
The project was awarded to China’s Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group for NRs. 6.22 Billion and was expected to be completed by end of 2017. However, the deadline has been extended for three times already.
