Every year in the federal government, the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, to please the voters of his area, does not have any concrete plans to conduct test flights at airports that are closed or show the hope of regular flights. While billions of rupees are being wasted in airports where regular flights are not taking place even though the runway is black, after the minister's assurance, crores of investment in the name of upgrading has become like pouring water on sand.

There are three international and 52 domestic airports in Nepal. Out of which 20 are completely closed and 35 are operational. Out of the 35 operating airports, more than a dozen airports in remote locations are operating in name only.

It was promised that regular flights will start from Chait 22 at the Kamalbazar airport in Achham due to the readiness of the current Civil Aviation Minister Badri Pandey. But that plan has been moved for about a week . Preparations are being made to fly to Kamalbazar once a week from Nepalgunj. On January 5, a Tara Air plane had a test flight at the airport with a gravel runway.

In the year 2048, the estimated cost of 46.3 million rupees was spent on this project at the initial stage of 25 million rupees. The airport, which started construction in 2049, was closed after being destroyed in a Maoist attack before it was built. After that, the Kamalbazar Airport, which was turned into Goucharan for a long time, was graveled in 2079/080 after the federal government allocated a budget of 15 million for upgrading.

Mayor Yagya Prasad Dhakal said that 4 employees including technicians will be required for the airport where the test flight took place on January 5th and it will be managed by Kamalbazar Municipality. According to him, preparations are being made to fly to Nepalgunj, which is 25 minutes away by air, one day a week at the only gravel airport. "We have set a date many times to open the airport for regular flights, but due to various reasons, we are not able to open it," said City Chief Dhakal. Mangalsen Municipality, Panchdeval Vinayak Municipality, Ramaroshan, Dhakari, Turmakhand Rural Municipality have said that they will provide financial support. "There has been an agreement that 10/10 percent of the necessary expenses for the operation of the airport will be borne by 5 local levels and 50 percent by the Kamalbazar Municipality," he said.

According to him, the construction of the airport started continuously since 2049. The terminal building was demolished by the then rebel Maoists while it was being constructed by the consumer committee. 

At a distance of about 75 km from Kamalbazar airport, there is another airport at Sanfebagar in Achham. Flights have been stopped at the airport, which has a black runway, for 9 months. With the insistence of the then Minister of Aviation Rabindra Adhikari, the airport was re-opened in 2075 after it was blacklisted for 115 million rupees. 

The Sanfebagar Airport, which was destroyed by the Maoists on 4th February 2058, had occasional flights until 2062. After 2075, regular flights started at the airport which was converted into Goucharan for 13 years. Even though Sanfebagar airport with black runway has been closed, the airport with gravel runway in Kamalbazar will be able to fly at the insistence of Minister Pandey, but locals are doubting its long-term operation .

The Tikapur Airport in Tikapur of Kailali in Far West Province was also put into operation under the supervision of the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Arun Kumar Chaudhary. Yeti Airlines had an agreement with Tikapur municipality to fly three days a week between Tikapur-Nepalgunj-Kathmandu. Although it is said that there are three days in a week, there is currently one flight in a week.

Information Officer of Dhangadhi Airport Vidya Shah said that on the day when the flight was scheduled in Tikapur, a technician arrived there from Dhangadhi to operate the tower. According to him, for boarding from Tikapur, Tara Air brings staff from Nepalgunj, while the municipality has deployed 5 city policemen and 5 policemen from Nepal Police for security .

Majhgaon Airport in Kanchanpur in the Far West is also being built in full swing. Although the work has started with the goal of completing the construction within three years, there is still confusion in getting the land. Base construction work has been completed in 1300 meters for the construction of runway of the airport. In order to add 200 meters, the land under the protection of Shuklaphanta National Park is ready to be vacated, but the army has not left the land yet. A month ago, the army agreed to clear the land in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"The work has not progressed because the land has not been cleared," said Meenraj Ojha, head of the airport project, "It has been a month since the agreement was made, but the land has not yet been cleared for the construction of the runway." According to him, the construction time has been extended until next January.

The airport, which has started air service since 2030, was closed during the armed conflict in 2056 for security reasons . After a long agitation for the construction of the airport, the construction started in Bel, where Prem Ale is the Civil Aviation Minister, in partnership with the local level, the state government and the federal government. 

It is said that for the construction and operation of the airport, 15 percent of the Bhimdatta municipality, 10 percent of Dodhara Chandni, 25 percent of the Sudurpaschim province government and 50 percent of the federal government will be invested . Although the contract was signed with Kancharam/KS/Uma & Company for 45 crore 66 lakhs for a period of three years, one year was extended after the deadline expired on January 10.

The Bajhang Airport in Far West has also been partially operational since 2075 but has been closed for about eight months. Private sector aircraft had four flights in November at the closed airport since the last week of March 2080. Summit Air was flying regularly two days a week to Sayam when the airport was operational. It was flying Dhangadhi-Bajhang-Dhangadi, Bajhang-Nepalganj two days a week. 

2078 Nepal Airlines also flew for about a month after the road traffic in the Far West was cut off due to the floods in October 2078. Nepal Airlines, which provided air services to Dhangadhi and Nepalgunj for some time after establishing an office, has now closed its office as well. After the planes stopped operating and the road traffic was also blocked, it became difficult for the patients who are in an emergency to travel to Dhangadhi and Nepalgunj. 

This airport was attacked by Maoists during the conflict and destroyed. To bring the closed airport back into operation, more than 160 crores were spent by the government of Nepal to cover the runway, construct the terminal building, fence, etc.

Land acquisition work was started in the year 2024 under the direction of the then King Mahendra Shah to build the Doti Airport at Dipayal. Local leader Karna Bahadur Dwaria says that after the construction started in 2025, the plane landed there for the first time on January 10, 2028. After the road touched Dipayal, the plane stopped coming there . However, the locals are getting the assurance that the plane will land at Doti during the elections.

The then tourism minister Lokendra Bista Magar, who had boarded a plane and landed at Dipayal in 2068, announced that Doti would connect the earth and the sky . After he returned, the plane did not come back . Since then, the candidates contesting the elections keep raising the issue of the airport . 

The airport, which has a runway of only 490 meters, is not suitable for large modern aircraft. However, in 2073, the Civil Aviation Authority blacklisted the runway. Sapna Galva JV Construction has blacklisted for 68 million rupees . Similarly, the construction work of terminal building and tower started from June 2079. According to the contract with TDR Construction Dhangadhi for 50.9 million, this work should have been completed by November 2080. However, the construction is not finished . 

In recent times, commercial flights have not been conducted except for chartered planes and small planes of the Nepali Army after confiscation by the leaders. It has been two years since such planes came.

Baitadi, Darchula, Dadeldhura and the central part of Bajhang, Baitadi's Patan Airport is also closed. A test flight was conducted on October 17, 2077 at Patan Airport, which was brought back into operation after 26 years of closure. Shortly after that, Summit Air partially operated Dhangadhi-Patan-Dhangadhi flight . But due to the lack of passengers, Summit stopped the service from March 2078.

Gokuleshwar Airport in Darchula and Mahendranagar Airport in Kanchanpur are still under construction. Gokuleshwar Airport, which started construction in 2044 and was operational since 2046, has been completely closed for 50 years. During the conflict, the Maoists destroyed the structures including the tower at the airport. After the Ministry of Finance secured the budget for the reconstruction of the airport in January 2077, the reconstruction work is currently underway.

Karnali is also in the same situation

Chaurjahari Airport in Rukum West, which was operational almost 53 years ago, was blacklisted in August 2072 . However, since the tarmac of the runway at a cost of Rs 5 crore 59 lakh, not a single ship has landed. 'Until there was a dirt runway, there were up to 5 flights a week, when the pitch was reached, then the flight was stopped,' said local Padam Lamichhane, 'We waited for 9 years hoping for a plane, now there is no hope that the plane will come again.'
An airport was built in Chaurzahari in the year 2028 targeting Rukum West, Salyan and Jajarkot. It has been 8 years since the office of Nepal Airlines Corporation at the airport was removed. After Air Services Corporation took the office to Nepalgunj, Surendra Nepali, a junior assistant working there, has been sent to Salle Airport located at the headquarters. Near the runway of the airport is the office and tower of the Civil Aviation Authority. But there are no Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). This tower has also been closed for years. Local Kamal Lamichhane said that although there is a police station for airport security, the market is limited to patrolling.

Similarly, after 37 years of construction, Kotbada Airport in Kalikot has been blacklisted . Terminal tower, security building, toilets, parking, drinking water, electricity, security posts and other structures have been constructed at the airport. But since the test flight, no flight has been done since 2073. The runway has been blacklisted with a budget of 15 million 14 lakh rupees.

The 640-meter-long airport has 30 meters of black paper at the turning point and 20 meters elsewhere. "The black paper was done by spending crores of money, but when the ship does not run, it is like pouring water on the sand," said Kamal Bahadur Shah, Vice President of Narharinath Rural Municipality, "Airline companies have not dared to fly here because they are far away from the headquarters.

The state has spent 286 million rupees to blacken the runway of Masinechaur Airport in Dolpa. But the black paper has not been touched by the wheels of the plane even once on the runway. Tripurasundari municipality-7 has been completed in the year 2078, but it has not yet been put into operation. The foundation stone of the airport was laid in 2051 and construction began in 2052. Even after waiting for 29 years, the hill dwellers, who gave cultivable land in the hope of boarding the plane, have not been able to board the plane.  According to Bir Prasad Shahi, engineer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Kathmandu, the state has spent 286 million for the construction of the airport since 2052. 25 crores have been spent only for black paper. 

Jufal Airport in Thulieveri Municipality-7 of Dolpa is in operation . The foundation stone was laid in 2033 and the airport was built in 2035 and was blacklisted only in 2074. It has been blacklisted with an investment of 98.1 million crores of Nepal Civil Aviation Authority. Until a year ago, Dolpali was a reliable means of transport for the people, but since February 2080, the airport has started to be used as an alternative to road transport. From Nepalgunj, Tara, Summit, Nepal Air Service Corporation are flying.

In the Himalayan districts of Karnali, Humla, Dolpa, Mugu and Jumla, the roads are dilapidated and dangerous, and even now, planes are dependent on them. There is no airport in Dailekh, Jajarkot, Salyan and Dailekh. Even if there is an airport in other districts, it is not reliable . Dhirendra Rizal, Information Officer of Nepalgunj Airport, said that private airlines Tara, Sita and Summit are flying 2/2 flights from Nepalgunj to Humla, Mugu and Rara Airports. 

The flight from Surkhet, the provincial capital, to the Himalayan district keeps stopping. Tara Air, which has been flying from Surkhet to Mugu, Humla and Jumla, has stopped flying to Karnali from the first week of March. Meen Bahadur Rawal, director of Himalayan Tours and Travels, said that the flight from Surkhet was stopped as the expenses could not be met. According to him, 1 lakh 75 thousand rupees were spent per flight in Jumla and Mugu and 2 lakh 75 thousand rupees in Humla. But he says that it is difficult to bear the expenses when there are no passengers.

Resunga Airport re-operation 

The Resunga Airport in Gulmi, Lumbini Province is said to be  It is back in operation . The service was stopped after the grounding of the two TwinOtter planes belonging to the Nepal Airlines Corporation flying here. Suman Thapa, the head of Resunga station of the corporation, said that the airport, which has up to 4 flights a week, has resumed service.
2080 The regular flight started from Baisakh 29, so far 91 flights have taken place at the airport. The construction of this airport started in 2071 after the foundation stone was laid in 2063, and the work of this airport was completed only in December 2079. The length of the runway of the airport, which has been completed at a total cost of 330 million, is 520 meters and the width is 20 meters.

2080 In the beginning, only 6 flights were operated at the airport which was operated from Baisakh 29. It was closed repeatedly for the last three months. At first, Tara Air's plane had a test flight at the airport on 24 January 2079 .

21 crore Swaha in Arghakhanchi

An airport is also being constructed in Argha Bhagwati of Arghakhanchi . But it has been stalled for 15 months due to lack of budget. In the year 2073, the construction of the airport started with the efforts of Top Bahadur Rayamazhi, but he  After being incarcerated, due to lack of budget, it has come to a standstill.
Although 60 percent of the airport under construction in Sandhikhark municipality-10 has been completed, the construction work has been stopped due to lack of funds. For the construction of the airport, 21 million rupees have already been spent by cutting down the forest, clearing the hills and making the runway. Contractor Kaviram Khanal said that an additional 300 million rupees will be required to complete the construction of the airport with a 9-meter runway.

closed Balewa

From 2022 to 2050, regular flights operated at Balewa Airport. Even though it was a crude airport, it was full of passengers. Passengers used to travel from Pokhara, Bhairahawa and Kathmandu when the plane operated three days a week. Four years ago, the runway of the airport was blacked out. Since then, not once has a ship landed there . No one is interested in the operation of the airport. 
In May 2078, ``Kashtamandap Uma & Joint Construction Company'' had blacklisted the building at a cost of 80 million 24 lakh 34 thousand rupees. A 1,100 meter long field has been graveled with approximately 700 meter length of black sheet . The 30 meter wide field is surrounded by a wire fence . After the renovation of the terminal building, even after painting, there was no initiative to fly the plane. 

Four years ago, the airport was blacklisted . Since then, the ship has not come even once. Local residents say that no one is interested in the operation of the airport.

Another Dhorpatan airport, 126 km west of Baglung headquarters, is also stranded. In the year 2032/033, the airport was built with the help of the Swiss government and the labor of the locals.

Manangi's hope is not in Humde 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Humde Airport located in Upper Manang of the Himalayan District of Manang spent 9 million rupees and paved the runway in 2069/70. The previously 600 meter washed runway was expanded to 900 meters. After the expansion of the runway, in November of the same year, the then minister and official of the authority boarded the Twin-Otter aircraft of Nepal Airlines Corporation and landed in Humde. Manang watched from the sky. Get off the airport. The locals gave a grand welcome. However, the ship did not return to Manang after that.
The airport in Manang Ngisyang Rural Municipality-4 is at an altitude of 3,330 meters above sea level. Humde is also one of the airports in the high Himalayan region of Nepal. Locals complain that it is sad that the plane did not take off due to blackout even though the plane flew on the runway.

5 years ago, while shooting the Bollywood film 'Uchai', the Indian actor brought a Tara Air plane . After that, even private company planes have not flown . It has been more than a decade since Nepal Airlines Corporation's aircraft did not fly.

After the federal structure, the Gandaki state government also tried to fly a plane to Manang. Prithvisubba Gurung, the then Chief Minister of Gandaki Province (currently Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Government Spokesperson) who landed in Humde on 27th August 2076 by Summit Air's plane, assured to start initiatives for regular flights to Manang. Moreover, the then Minister of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment of the province, Bikas Lamsal, had made a speech that there would be regular air flights to Manang from October 10th of the same year. But all that was limited to speech.

Before the extension of the runway and the black paper, the corporation's TwinOtter aircraft used to fly Pokhara-Manang twice a week. There was flying all the time except when it was snowing and raining . Pokhara-Manang or Manang-Pokhara took about 25 minutes. Due to the indifference of the government, there is no flight to Manang.

Charangaon airport limited in DPR

The plan to build an airport in the upper part of Mustang is limited in paper . The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation through IFID Consultancy had also made a DPR for an airport in the lower part of Loghekar Damodarkund Rural Municipality-1 Charangaon in Upper Mustang. But the plan to build the proposed airport at a height of 4,000 meters and the DPR ministry have been stuck. 
On October 11, 2075, then Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari reached Charang and promised to continue the airport construction process. The government also conducted a preliminary study to build an airport in Charang. Under the direction of the minister, the authority sent Civil Engineer Naresh Sivakoti and Prakash Shrestha of IFID Consultancy to prepare the DPR of the airport.

Many processes have been completed to build an airport in Charang, the upper part of Mustang. The technician has also made a DPR. After that, we don't know where the plan and DPR went,' said Indradhara Bista, the then member of the Gandaki State Assembly, 'the issue of high altitude has been raised. Due to various issues in Upper Mustang, the construction of an airport has been affected.' The condition of the airport where the candidates make the main election agenda is pathetic . The condition of the airport, which came into the limelight only during the election and has been unused for 6 decades, has not changed. The structures of the airport built years ago have been destroyed. The airfield has turned into a cow run.

Hetaunda, Kathmandu, Simra and Pokhara were flying from the airport, which has been in operation since 2017, until 2032. After Prithvi Highway opened in 2032, the airport was closed. 

According to the plan to re-operate the airport, the upgrading process was started four years ago . The Civil Aviation Authority spent 31.7 crores to prepare the ground and build a runway with gravel. The work was done to add structure to make the airport suitable for short-haul small ships. 
'Work was done for two years after the contract was signed,' Minister Pandey said, 'Then there was no budget, the work was also stopped in the middle.' Before upgrading the unused airport, the locals were using it as a playground and a playground. "It took two years to lay gravel to build a sub-base to build a runway, then the budget was not increased, and the work was stopped," he said. Bharatpur airport is in regular operation but Meghauli airport is closed. There was no regular flight at Meghauli Airport before. Charter planes filled with foreign guests of Nepal's first Jungle Lodge Tiger Tops Hotel used to land and take off there.

Tiger Tops Hotel was closed since 2067 after the government did not allow the hotel to operate inside Chitwan Park. Meghauli Airport was also closed from November of the same year. After seven years of closure, the corporation's TwinOtter aircraft started serving in October 2074. But that didn't last long either. This airport is 24 km west of Bharatpur.

At the airport established in 2017, when Tiger Tops was in operation, up to 10 planes used to take off and land . There is a history of British Queen Elizabeth coming to Chitwan, her plane landing at Meghauli Airport. In addition to this, former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had also inaugurated the master plan construction study in August two years ago to upgrade the airport. But the airport has not yet been operational. 

Jiri airport became a story

It seems like a story to the children of today that there was an airport in Jiri once upon a time. Jiri, also known as the 'Gateway of Mt. Everest', has been closed to aircraft landing since the road was reached in 2043. The Jiri Airport, which was once built by the Swiss for its own airport, has not been flying for three decades. Quadrupeds graze on the evergreen trees on the runway of the airport.
Since 2053, the locals have been asking influential people to open the airport. From the prime minister to the ministers, even if it is to please the locals, they have been saying, 'I will take the initiative to operate the airport.' To end the suffering of reaching Jiri in seven days from Bhaktapur's Sanga, the Swiss built an airport that can accommodate a small-sized (TwinOtter) aircraft at Hatdanda in Jiri. Until the year 2020, a plane landed and took off from the airport once a week. Mayor Tank Jirel says that another airport will be built in Lincoln in Jiri in 2021 after the danger of accidents. 

in Lincoln  After the airport was moved, there was a crowd of locals waiting for the day of the plane to land. According to Mayor Zirel, the Swiss used to come to the ship to cut their hair and beard. Sometimes only the pilot and one other person came. At that time, the Swiss government owned its own ship and piloted it.

More helicopters than ships in Suketar 

The only Suketar airport in Taplejung has not had an air flight since the last week of December this year. On the 16th of Chaitra, the plane carrying 10 passengers from Kathmandu failed to land and the plane returned to Kathmandu and did not reach there. 
Suketar Airport, which was built in the year 2032, could never have a regular flight. The runway of the airport built on the initiative of the then Forest Minister Bishnu Maden was 750 meters long. In the year 2076, it has been upgraded and 950 meters of runway has been paved. The hill on the east side which was there during the construction of the airport has also been demolished. 

TwinOtter only lives here because the wind blows after noon, so most of the flights take place before 11 am . Omprakash Rai of Suketar says that apart from Nepal Airlines Corporation, private airlines such as Sita, Tara, Yeti also fly. "But no one was interested in regular flights," he said, "Private companies are coming to us only when there are no tourists to Solukhumbu." The government plane breaks down, problems keep coming. We couldn't get good air service.'

The then tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai did not try to upgrade the airport to make it suitable for 72-seater aircraft to land. But the plan has been limited to a paper file after leaving the minister while making the plan. He himself used to say that he was not able to complete the airport as he was a minister for a short period of time. The airport authority's technician suggested that a 72-seat aircraft can be accommodated if 300 meters of runway are added. But things have not been agreed on including land compensation. 

Lamidanda has been closed for five years

Among the three airports in Khotang, Lamidanda Airport in Rawabesi Rural Municipality-3 Lamidada, which is located in the northern region, has been closed for five years . The airport, which has been closed since July 2077, is still not operational.
According to Fatik Kumar Shrestha, Chairman of Rawabesi Rural Municipality, the airport was closed during the second phase of the Covid-19. Shrestha complained that he was ignored even when he repeatedly went to the relevant agency for the operation. "Delegations have been made to several ministers for the operation of the airport, but they say that there is no ship," he said, "even when they were requested, they were ignored, and now the minister should be ashamed.

The airport has been in operation since 2028." The construction of the airport started at the end of 2025 at the initiative of then engineer Birendra Keshari Pokharel and was completed in 2027.

The Thamkhark airport in the southern region of Khotang has been closed for four months. The flight was stopped after the plane broke down. Earlier, Kathmandu-Thamkhark-Kathmandu flight was operated once a week. Village Chairman Udim Bahadur Rai said that Nepal Airlines Corporation is preparing for a flight in Thamkhark. The airport was operational from 2056. 

Manmaya Rai Khanidanda Airport, which is near the district headquarters, has been closed for four months and has just started flying. But station manager Surendra Kasju said that the flight schedule has not been determined yet. The airport has been operational since November 2066. At that time the tourism minister was Saratsingh Bhandari .

2 out of 4 closed in Solu
Only 2 are operating in Solukhumbu now . The Syangboche airport at an altitude of about 3800 meters has been closed for two decades, while the Kangel airport in the southern part of the district has not been operational since the conflict period. 

At present, only Tenzing Hillary Airport Lukla and Phaplu Airport are operating . The airport was built in 1971-72. Only single-engine Pilatus Porter aircraft can be operated here. The airport has been closed for years because the aircraft will not be built. Currently there are no offices and staff at the airport.

The Kangel Airport, which was built in 2054/55 on the initiative of the then Tourism Minister Bal Bahadur KC, has now turned into a cow-charan . Due to the lack of passengers, flights have not been able to take place recently. Although there are positions of airport office and staff, no staff is working. 

Lukla Airport, built in 1964, was blacklisted in 2001. The airport is one of the busiest airports in the country. Established in 1976, Phaplu Airport has been blacklisted for 12 years. Currently, the airport is operating regularly.

ever volatile Elam 

The necessary structures at Sukilumba Airport in Ilam, which was inaugurated on January 29, 2078, have not yet been completed. This airport has no basic infrastructure like ticket counter and waiting room, and even water and electricity are not connected.
To reach this airport, which is about 2 km from the Mechi highway, you have to walk on a dirt road after leaving the highway. There are no regular flights even in winter at the airport, which is often closed after rain. Nepal Airlines Corporation has started flying 19-seat aircraft every week on Wednesday since last August, but so far only 5 flights have taken place.

The last time a flight from Kathmandu landed there on January 4. On March 20th, the passengers were upset when the plane carrying 13 people was diverted to Kathmandu due to lack of visibility.

The construction process of this airport started in the year 2058 and has not been completed for 23 years . The airport occupies an area of ​​328 ropani of Ilam Municipality-9. According to the Civil Aviation Authority, 300 million rupees have been spent since the construction process started. A permanent terminal building is yet to be built at the airport. It is estimated that it will cost 45 crore rupees to complete. The land was purchased by raising funds from the then District Development Committee, Ilam Municipality and all the villages. Locals have not been able to get services from the airport built by collecting donations even from the district residents.