13 crore installation of equipment to assist the pilot in take-off and landing
With the installation of equipment worth 13 million rupees to help the pilot in the scene, it is now possible to take off and land aircraft at Rajviraj Airport even in bad weather and at night.
Previously, flights in Rajviraj were conducted only when there was a minimum visibility of 5,000 meters. Now the ship can be landed even when there is a minimum visibility of 2000 meters.
Nepal Civil Aviation Authority 2 years ago, the installation of visual aids (Visual Aid) was started at Rajviraj Airport, which is necessary for aircraft to fly in bad weather and at night. After all the equipment was installed, Buddha Air's ATR aircraft reached Janakpur on a regular flight from Kathmandu on Friday and from there reached Rajviraj to test the accuracy of the equipment and systems.
Instructor Pilot Manoj KC and Captain Siddharth Bahadur Singh, who took an empty Buddha Air ATR-72 aircraft from Janakpur and submitted a technical report, have made it possible to fly at night at Rajviraj Airport from Monday night.
This has become the 10th airport in Nepal where night flights can be conducted. The night flight facility was earlier at Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan International Airport, Pokhara International Airport, Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport, Dhangadhi, Nepalgunj, Simra, Janakpur, Biratnagar and Chandragarhi.
The visual aid control system that helps the aircraft in difficult weather and low visibility is placed in the tower of the airport. Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Badri Pandey inaugurated the event by pressing the switch on Monday.
Tourism Minister Pandey said that the arrival of tourists in the district will increase after the worry of no flights due to reduced visibility. Pradeep Adhikari, director general of the authority, informed that the visual aid system is going to be installed in Surkhet as well.
According to Sunil Kumar Kushwaha, the director of the authority, the runway edge lights, taxi-way lights connecting the runway and apron, and threshold lights indicating the landing of the aircraft have been installed from Belgium at a cost of 136 million rupees.
Similarly, ``Precision Approach Path Indicator'' lights have been installed to support the required navigation performance satellite-based approach system under the instrument flight landing system. After 052 years, the flight was not able to be regular at the Rajviraj Airport, which was established in 2016.
Before installing the night flight support system, the authority invested around 300 million rupees and improved the unpaved runway by paving the 1500-meter long runway and adding facilities such as aprons, taxiways, and terminal buildings. After that, passengers traveling to and from Janakpur and Biratnagar to Kathmandu started flying through this airport.
After infrastructure expansion, Shree Airlines started flying CRJ aircraft in Rajviraj from June 075. According to Gyanendra Bhul, co-spokesperson of the authority, Buddha Air is currently operating one flight here daily. Buddha himself now plans to make a second flight at night.
Janamat Party Chairman and Member of Parliament for Saptari-2 CK Raut said that after getting rid of the problem of flight delays and cancellations due to low visibility in winter, traffic is expected to increase in tourist areas such as Koshitappu, Chatra, Chinnamasta through Rajviraj Airport.
