On Saturday, a problem with the airfield lighting system on the runway at Tribhuvan International Airport affected flights and landings for about five and a half hours. During this time, a Korean Air flight to Delhi and a FlyDubai flight to Lucknow were diverted.

Not only on Saturday, on Baisakh 11 last year, a Fly Dubai plane caught fire in its engine while taking off from Tribhuvan Airport, but the pilot of the plane did not show interest in landing here, even though there are three international airports in Nepal.  The plane was heading towards its destination through the skies of Bhairahawa.  On Falgun 14 last year, due to bad weather in Kathmandu, a Vistara Air plane coming from New Delhi, India, and a Fly Dubai plane flying from Dubai to Kathmandu were diverted to Lucknow, India. 

These incidents are only representative incidents.  If international planes coming to Nepal have to divert or make an emergency landing, an airport outside Nepal is given priority over a Nepali airport. 

However, every international plane coming to Nepal has to select an alternative airport.  Almost all planes also use Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa as an alternative airport. Despite being at an alternative airport, Air China's aircraft have been diverted here only three times.

Although Gautam Buddha International Airport was opened on 1st Jestha 2079 BS, it is disappointing that this airport, which was opened to target tourists, has not been fully operational. Aircraft are not landing regularly at this airport. Despite being fully prepared for not only regular but also emergency landings, this airport has not yet been able to land diverted aircraft other than Air China.

Experts say that if an emergency flight has to be held at Bhairahawa Airport at night, where will the passengers be kept, how will the crew members be managed, and who will inspect the aircraft before flying the next day? The planes are not willing to come here. Until Bhairahawa Airport becomes operational regularly and such facilities are easily available, planes that cannot land in Kathmandu cannot be landed in Bhairahawa.

Apart from this, the disparity in fuel prices between Nepal and India has also hindered diverted flights from landing in Bhairahawa. The price of aviation fuel in India is cheaper than in Nepal. The price of aviation fuel in Nepal is $973 per thousand liters, while the price of the same amount of fuel in India is only $817. Since aircraft carrying large quantities of fuel save millions due to Indian fuel, Gautam Buddha International Airport is not their choice.

In terms of distance and time, Gautam Buddha International Airport is closer than Lucknow. In terms of distance, it takes 142 nautical miles more to land in Lucknow than to land in Bhairahawa from Kathmandu. But in the current situation, not only foreign airline planes but also Nepal Airlines planes are taking diverted flights from Kathmandu to Lucknow instead of Gautam Buddha International Airport.

According to airport sources, there is no truth to the rumor that foreign planes are not coming due to the route problem. Experts say that it is easier and less expensive for planes to land at Bhairahawa airport than Kathmandu.

It is easier for planes entering from Simara to reach Bhairahawa than Kathmandu. Although it is a bit far away in terms of distance, there is no obstacle like Kathmandu here. If a plane cannot land due to traffic in the sky, it increases the cost, there is no such problem here. Apart from this, there is also a facility to shorten the distance for planes flying out via Lima 626 even if they fly from Bhairahawa.

According to Gautam Buddha International Airport spokesperson Shyam Kishore Sah, the main reason for the inability to divert planes here is the lack of skilled manpower. 'Compared to Bhairahawa, Lucknow and other international airports have such skilled technical manpower ready, although Bhairahawa has a ground handling team, there is no team of engineers,' says Sah.

In terms of facilities, Gautam Buddha International Airport has more facilities than Kathmandu. According to airport spokesperson Sah, a 100 percent discount has been provided on passenger service charges, parking, landing and navigation service charges until mid-Bhadra 2083 to attract international air services at Bhairahawa Airport. There is a discount of up to 75 percent on ground handling services. The price of aviation fuel has been determined and sold at the break-even point. This means that the average price is about one dollar per kiloliter compared to Kathmandu.

Local leaders have complained that there is no initiative from the state level rather than the regional level for the operation of the airport. Local Thakur Kumar Shrestha, who is also the former president of the Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, commented that ‘diplomatic initiatives are still not enough’. He said that Saturday’s incident seemed to show that there were two alternative international airports.

He said that even though Nepal has increased the number of international airports, the indifference seen in their utilization and operation has seriously damaged the image of the nation. Despite billions of rupees being invested in Pokhara and Gautam Buddha International Airports, regular international flights have not been operated at these airports so far. Both these airports are mainly operated by domestic flights.

The lack of presence of foreign employment entrepreneurs for airport operations and the lack of competent travel entrepreneurs who can operate international flights are also factors in the inability of the airports to operate regularly. Passengers still have to rely on Kathmandu for this. The airport side says that the private sector should take the initiative for this.