Country's only international airport over-crowded

KATHMANDU, Feb 14: The Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is a congested place in terms of space as well as air traffic, thanks to a sharp rise in the number of passengers in the past ten years that was, unfortunately, not matched by efforts to expand the airport´s infrastructure.



This has led to the saturation of certain flight periods during which no new flights can be added, according to aviation officials.[break]

 

The TIA handled 10, 61,343 passengers in 2000, compared to 20, 27,147 in 2009. The airport has only one runway that is used for both domestic and international flights.



The runway handled 8,105 international flights in 2000 compared to 15,701 in 2009. Figures of domestic flights operated using the same runway for the corresponding years stood at 55,998 and 76,183 respectively. Cargo movement through TIA shot up from 17,001 tons to 15,349 tons from 2000 to 2009.



All in all, pressure on TIA´s infrastructure has doubled. But precious little has been done to upgrade the airport, except for building a new air cargo complex in 2002.



“The airport is saturated between 10 am and 4 pm,” said TIA´s General Manager Ratish Chandra Lal Suman. TIA officials have not been able to properly adjust the timings of flights as most airline operators prefer to conduct flights during this period, the reason being passengers also prefer to board flights during this period.



Also, the fact that there is only one point -- Bhattedanda of Makwanpur -- that is used for entry and exit of international flights contributes for further air traffic congestion.



“We can still add flights during the lean periods before 10 am and after 4 pm,” said Suman. But traffic congestion during the peak period exacerbates during winter when flights cannot be conducted in the morning due to poor visibility.



The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has announced incentives in the form of 25 percent discount in landing and parking fees during lean periods to encourage airline operators to shift flights to lean periods, but without success.  



Dinesh Kumar Shrestha, former general manager of TIA and now CAAN´s deputy director general of Airport Management and Development Directorate, says one way to deal with air traffic congestion is operating international flights at night.



Currently, the TIA operates for 18.5 hours a day, starting from six in the morning and closing at 12:30 at night.



According to Shrestha, domestic operators cannot be pushed to operate at night as only three domestic airports -- Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa, and Biratnagar -- can handle domestic flights at night. “But these airports are conducting flights only until 8:30 pm, due to security and transportation problems faced by the passengers,” he said.



TIA General Manager Suman concurred saying efforts are underway to spread air traffic accumulated during peak hours. “We are working to push flight time further beyond the current airport closure time of 12:30 at night so that flights are spread out more evenly in the peak and lean periods,” he said. “But we must first find interest among airline companies and see whether it is financially feasible to operate the airport at night.”



Currently, 27 international airlines operate to and from TIA, of which several are keen to operate more flights between 10 am to 4 pm, but have been denied due to over-crowding. Indigo Airline, an Indian company, has also shown interest to conduct flights to Kathmandu. 

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