13 crores equipment installation to assist the pilot in visualisation
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 the Rajviraj Airport even in bad weather and at night.
Previously, flights were conducted only when there was a minimum visibility of 5,000 meters in Rajviraj. 2 years ago, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal started installing visual aids (visual aids) required for aircraft to fly in bad weather and at night at Rajviraj Airport. After all the equipment was installed, Buddha Air's ATR aircraft, which reached Janakpur on a regular flight from Kathmandu on Friday, reached Rajviraj and tested 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. It has become the 10th airport in Nepal where night flights can be carried out. The control system of visual aid to help the ship in difficult weather and low visibility is placed in the tower of the airport. Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Badri Pandey inaugurated it by pressing the switch on Monday.
The night flight facility was previously available at Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan International Airport, Pokhara International Airport, Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport, Dhangadhi, Nepalgunj, Simra, Janakpur, Biratnagar and Chandragadhi. According to the director of the authority, Sunil Kumar Kushwaha, the runway edge lights, taxi-way lights that connect the runway and apron, and threshold lights that indicate the landing of the aircraft have been installed from Belgium at a cost of 136 million rupees. Similarly, under the Instrument Flight Landing System, a 'Precision Approach Path Indicator' light has been installed to help the satellite-based approach system with the required navigation performance.
Tourism Minister Pandey said that the arrival of tourists in the district will increase after the worry of no flights due to reduced visibility. The director general of the authority, Pradeep Adhikari, informed that visual aid system is going to be installed in Surkhet as well. He said that the ship can be landed even if there is a minimum visibility of 2000 meters from the equipment connected to Rajviraj.
Rajviraj Airport, which was established in 2016, had not been able to have regular flights after 52 years. Before the installation of the night flight support system, the authority invested around 300 million rupees and improved the unpaved runway by paving the 1,500-meter long runway and adding facilities such as apron, taxiway, terminal building, etc. After that, passengers traveling to and from Janakpur and Biratnagar to and from Kathmandu started flying through this airport.
Sri Airlines started flying CRJ aircraft in Rajviraj from June 075 after infrastructure expansion. According to Gyanendra Bhul, Co-Spokesperson of the Authority, Buddha Air is currently operating one flight here daily. Buddha is now planning to make a second night flight. CK Raut, president of the Janmat Party and Member of Parliament for Saptari-2, said that after getting rid of the problem of flight delays and cancellations due to low visibility during winter, the traffic in the tourist areas such as Koshitappu, Chatra, Chinnamasta and other through Rajviraj Airport is expected to increase.
