Kathmandu, July 1: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Khadak Raj Paudel, has said that regular flights could not operate at Suntharali Airport in Kalikot due to low number of passengers.
Responding to queries raised by lawmaker Bishnu Bahadur Biswokarma at today’s National Assembly meeting about the airport’s operation, Minister Paudel explained that regular flights could not take place at the airport owing to low availability of passengers.
It may be noted that the airport was officially inaugurated on 14 Falgun 2080 BS. The first test flight by Tara Air took place on 29 Magh 2073 BS.
Minister Paudel shared that discussions were held with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Nepal Airlines, Tara Air, Sita Air, Summit Air, and people’s representatives from Kalikot to run regular flights at the airport.
Although Tara Air agreed to operate regular flights twice a week, the flight could not be put into regular operation due to the lack of assured passengers. ‘Once there is assurance of regular passengers, flights will start,’ Minister Paudel said.
According to him, there are 55 airports in Nepal, of which 34 are operational. Most of these airports are in hilly regions and have not been in operation due to low number of passengers.
Minister Paudel said that reasons such as migration and cheaper road travel cost have led to a decline in the number of passengers.
Next meeting of the National Assembly will be held at 1.15 pm on Thursday.#nepal #rss
