An operation flight is scheduled to take place at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa today. Earlier, the operation flight scheduled for New Year’s Day was postponed.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has stated that 330 Airbus of Nepal Airlines Corporation is going to conduct an operation flight (test flight) today.
According to CAAN spokesperson Dev Chand Lal Karna, the corporation’s plane for the operation flight will depart from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu for Bhairahawa at 3 pm today and return to Kathmandu at 5 pm after landing at Gautam Buddha International Airport.
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Ale, Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Director General of the CAAN will be on board. The team will also get information about the condition of the airport, customs, immigration, security, etc.
After the test flight, other countries will be able to operate chartered flights and send information for commercial flights, said Govinda Prasad Dahal, general manager of Gautam Buddha International Airport.
The government has formally requested the airline to fill the flight from Gaitambuddha Airport. Companies from more than 11 countries have shown interest in operating commercial flights at the airport. However, no formal letter has been sent for commercial flights. It is preparing to operate commercial international flights from Gautam Buddha International Airport on the day of Buddha Purnima on May 20.
For the first time, Kuwait’s Jazeera Air was interested in international flights. Accordingly, Jazeera has already obtained permission to fly from Kuwait to Gautam Buddha Airport three days a week from May 16.
Similarly, Nepal Airlines, SriLankan Air, Salaam Air, Thai Smile, Qatar Airways, Fly Dubai, Gulf Air, Go Air, Air Beach and Oman Air have also shown interest.
