CAAN seeks international airlines cooperation
KATHMANDU, AUG 21 -
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has asked international airlines using wide-body aircraft whether they could adopt certain load restriction measures to prevent damages on the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) runway.
As the country’s sole international airport suffered repeated cracks on its runway, raising safety concerns, the CAAN on Monday had asked all international carriers to find alternatives to their wide-body aircraft flying into Kathmandu.
However, with strong reservations from travel trade business es, the
regulator on Tuesday invited
international airlines to seek their opinion on how the issue could be resolved and a win-win situation could be reached. “As it was a matter of huge concern for wide-body operators, we have asked them whether they have any alternative to this problem,” said CAAN Director General Ratish Chandra Lal Suman.
The age of the runway, aircraft load and the condition of the drainage system at the airport has been attributed for the repeated damages. “Our concern is not the aircraft size, but its load, which has been assessed as one of the probable causes for the damage of the runway.”
An aircraft has two types of load factors—dry operating weight and pay load. Dry operating weight cannot be reduced, but pay load, which has three components—passengers, fuel and cargo—can be reduced. “We have asked the airlines whether they can compromise on any of the three components,” Suman said.
The CAAN has also directed the airport improvement project and the maintenance team to access whether there are other causes for runway cracks besides aircraft load. “We have asked them to find the fact and submit a report within a week,” he said.
Bharat Kumar Shrestha, chairman of the Airlines Operating Committee Nepal, said all airlines operators using wide-body aircraft are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the CAAN’s proposal. “If airlines think pay load can be reduced for a certain period, or until the monsoon-end (September 23), we will operate wide-body aircraft under load restriction,” Shrestha said. He said the idea, a short-term solution, “is not bad” considering the TIA’s problems. “Although the problem on the runway will not appear after monsoon, the government needs to think for an alternative international airport to fix the problem permanently.”
As all major airlines send wide-body aircraft to serve Kathmandu during the September-November period, the peak tourist season, travel trade entrepreneurs have raised serious concern about banning wide-body aircraft at TIA.
Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) and Nepal Association of Tour Operators (NATO) said the decision not to allow international airlines to use wide-body aircraft citing runway damage could be a big setback for Nepal’s tourism industry. “NATO, an umbrella association of the leading tour operators, five-star hotels and domestic airlines, urges the concerned authorities to find a permanent solution to the problem to ensure TIA’s continue operation,” NATO said in a statement.
NATTA said such a decision will compel tourists to avoid Nepal and also send a negative message to the international community. NAATA said repairs could be carried out by closing the runway for a week, and urged CAAN not to stop wide-body aircraft service for a long time.
Nepal Freight Forwarders Association said a ban on wide-body aircraft would not only affect the tourism industry, but also hit the export-import business . The association has urged CAAN to roll back the decision.
Meanwhile, issuing a separate press statement, the Civil Aviation ministry said the CAAN’s decision was not intended to impose a ban on wide-body aircraft, but a request to serve Nepal with narrow-body aircraft in response to ongoing repair work on the TIA runway.
Source: The Kathmandu post
