Demand for full operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport

The Gautam Budh International Airport monitoring sub-committee formed by the Public Accounts Committee under the Federal Parliament on Monday asked the participants to arrange international flights as soon as the government and private sector investments are sinking.

Two years have passed since the airport was opened and regular international flights have not been operated from here. Demanding regular flights The private sector here is agitating . Before the sub-committee that came for monitoring, industrialists, businessmen, people's representatives and civic leaders demanded that the state should take a policy decision and arrange international flights.

"Kathmandu-centered policy should now be made according to federalism," said Thakur Kumar Shrestha, President of Siddharth Nagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, "If the sub-committee really came with the intention of running the airport, then make the necessary policy decision to fly the plane from here."

Eight MPs from the Accounts Committee, including sub-committee coordinator Yogesh Bhattarai, have come to monitor the airport. During the discussion, the MP said that he felt the pain suffered by the private sector here due to lack of flights.

'Honorable gentlemen have felt our pain,' said Shrestha, 'we have been experiencing it for a long time.' He said that if the government has positive thinking and willpower towards the airport, it will not be difficult to operate it.

'There is no discussion about flying planes by calling the ambassadors of different countries,' he said, 'How can flights be added when they have to fly to Kathmandu to get labor approval and to ensure health?' He said that he had heard that more investment had been made. He said that the private sector has already invested twice as much 80 billion rupees in hotels and restaurants in the hope that tourism will increase with the operation of airplanes.

'The situation of businessmen who take bank loans has reached a miserable state,' he said, 'even though the private sector has been pressing for a long time, the government has not listened to the demand.' He said that Kathmandu-based manpower and travel agencies should be decentralized to start international flights was . He said that the government is indifferent to operate the

airport. "We are constantly putting pressure on them," he said, "even the government is not listening." Bishnu Paudel, former finance minister and member of the House of Representatives from Rupandehi-2, who participated in the discussion, said that the issue of starting international flights from Bhairahawa is not on the agenda of the government.

"How to operate the airport was not on the agenda of the government," he said, "that's why it hasn't been implemented yet." He said that international airlines have not been invited by the government to fly.

'If this airport does not operate, it will be a bad comment for the overall development,' he said, 'It will be operated as an international airport with full capacity .' He said .

sub-committee coordinator Yogesh Bhattarai said that the sentiment of tourism professionals, industrialists and civil society is that the airport should be operated quickly. According to the sentiments of the stakeholders here, the sub-committee will give suggestions to the government to prepare the environment for international flights from Bhairahawa by solving the problems seen in its operation.

Public Accounts Committee meeting formed a sub-committee to study the situation from its construction until now, he said.

'We are taking information about how much investment has been made in the airport, its needs and design, as well as the state's investment and operation,' he said, 'we also understand the private sector's investment and returns.'

The sub-committee had a discussion with the head of airport management, immigration, customs and airport security agencies on Monday morning. "We have asked many questions to the airport management, how many questions have been answered and how many have not been answered". That's why we also ask the higher authorities.'