Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has changed his tune about getting permission to operate Instrumental Landing System (ILS) from India at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa (GBIA), and Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Pradeep Adhikari, who is dealing with this issue, has falsified it.
During his recent visit to India, the Prime Minister of Nepal and the Director General of CAAN gave misleading information about the permission to operate ILS at GBIA.
It has been found that the Director General Ahikari who is ‘dealing’ with this issue provided false information saying that ‘India has given permission to operate ILS at GBIA while explaining technical matters to Prime Minister Dahal.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal has made it clear that it has not yet received permission to operate ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport.
“The ministry has not yet received official information that the permission for ILS operation in Bhairahawa has been obtained,” Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, the head of the Aviation Division of the Ministry, said, “The CAAN was dealing with it.”
Prime Minister Prachanda in a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude for granting permission to operate ILS at Bhairahawa Airport.
“We want to appreciate India for allowing the operation of the Gautam Buddha International Airport near the border,” Prime Minister Dahal said at the joint press conference.
The Prime Minister went on to say that there was talk about new air route from Mahendranagar and flights can be made from the new airport Bhairahawa and Pokhara.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed a joint press conference before Dahal, did not want to discuss the issue of providing more air routes to Nepal and ILS.
Talking to media outlets, Pradeep Adhikari, Director General of CAAN, claimed that India has fully agreed to allow operation of ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport.
Prime Minister Dahal changed his tune in Parliament
Prime Minister ‘Prachanda’ informed Parliament about his visit to India on Monday. Dahal has said that the issue of ILS has been discussed.
“There was a positive indication about the understanding of the Indian side regarding the process of operating an ILS for Gautam Buddha International Airport and additional air route to Nepal to make the air service safer,” he said.
He further said that there have been positive discussions regarding two-way flights from Nepalgunj and Bhairahawa to other cities including New Delhi.
Likewise, a press note issued by the Nepali Embassy in Delhi has mentioned that Prime Minister Prachanda requested the India government to allow operation of ILS for the smooth operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport. It has not mentioned anything regarding the permission to allow ILS operation at Bhairahawa Airport.
“The Prime Minister of Nepal also requested for India’s positive response towards operationalizing the ILS procedure for smooth operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport and enhancing flight safety and efficiency,” reads the press note issued by the Nepali Embassy in Delhi.
The parliamentarians have raised questions about the fact that Nepal is close to agreements. Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) MP Shishir Khanal questioned, “What kind of agreement was it when it was not mentioned by the two sides?”
“In the press note issued by Nepal, it is mentioned that there was a discussion and agreement on the issue of the second air entry route,” he said.
What is ILS? What is the benefit of getting permission for Nepal?
The Nepal government has been experiencing difficulties to land planes during inclement weather due to the lack of the Instrument Landing System (ILS).
At present, when the ILS is installed, its signal reaches the Indian soil.
There have been negotiations with India at various stages through the government in the course of building Gautam Buddha International Airport, but it has not been finalized.
The CAAN had been claiming that the aircraft that could not land in Kathmandu could now land in Bhairahawa.
However, despite the CAAN’s claim, Jazeera Airways and Himalaya Airlines, which fly to Bhairahawa, had to stop their international flights due to low visibility due to the lack of ILS.
Gautam Buddha International Airport is located in the Terai region, so it is more crowded during winter. Which makes it difficult for the ship to land regularly without ILS.
At present, due to the low visibility at the Tribhuvan International Airport, the planes that cannot land were being diverted and landing at various airports in India.
With the opening of Bhairahawa Airport, the authority has been claiming that the planes that are not scheduled to land in Kathmandu can land at Bhairahawa Airport easily.
“At the TIA, the aircraft can land when the visibility is 1,500 meters using ILS,” said Jagannath Niraula, deputy director general of the authority, “It can land at Bhairahawa Airport when the visibility is 800 meters.”
