Govt agencies lose revenue as tourist arrivals fall
KATHMANDU, June 23:
Three agencies under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has seen their revenue plunge after drop in arrivals forced international airlines to reduce their flights to Nepal.
Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), which used to earn Rs 120 million per week, has seen its revenue drop by 30 percent after international reduced 103 flights per week. Twenty-four international airlines are currently operating 191 flights a week. Before the earthquake, they used to operate 294 flights per week. They are unlikely to increase flight frequency before October.
Birendra Shrestha, acting general manager of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), said that revenue collection from aircraft landing, parking and navigation has gone down by 30 percent in a month after the April 25 earthquake.
CAAN charges US$ 1,085 and US$ 2,500 per flight for narrow body and wide body aircraft, respectively as landing and parking charges. Likewise, it takes Rs 1,130 as Passenger Service Charge and Rs 1,000 as Airport Development Fee (ADF) from each passenger. These fees are included in airline tickets.
Ram Hari Sharma, spokesperson of Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC), said reduction in number of flights has created huge loss for NAC as ground handling is the major income source of income for the national flag carrier. “We used to collect Rs 250 million ever month from ground handling charges. But it has gone down by 25 percent after the earthquake,” Sharma said, adding that the situation was likely to continue until October as the airlines are unwilling to increase flight frequency before that.
NAC charges narrow body and wide-body aircraft $3,000 and $ 6,000 per flight, respectively, as ground handling fee. However, it charges additional fee per person if the seat capacity of the aircraft is higher than the average capacity.
Bharat Kumar Shrestha, president of Airlines Operators Committee-Nepal, said international airlines have reduced flights to Nepal as number of passengers has declined drastically after the earthquake. “We have requested the tourism minister for some relief by providing discount on ground handling charges and airport charges for certain period,” he added.
Similarly, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) estimates its revenue to fall to Rs 950 million from the targeted Rs 1.1 billion for this fiscal year.
NTB levies a fee of Rs 1,130 on every foreign tourist.
Ramesh Kumar Adhikari, chief administrator of NTB, said revenue collection was unlikely to cross Rs 950 million. He also said Rs 900 million had already been collected before the quake. Adhikari expects revenue to go down in coming fiscal year as well. NTB has estimated that revenue collection will drop to Rs 900 million in the coming fiscal year.
“As only 30 percent of our development budget is expected to be spent in this fiscal year, we will carry over remaining amount to the next fiscal. This means we will not face budget crunch in the next fiscal year,” added Adhikari.
The number of tourists arriving Nepal has gone down drastically after the earthquake. Similarly, Nepalis aspiring to work in Gulf countries have postponed their trip hoping that the government will implement zero cost policy. This has forced airlines based in Gulf countries to reduce flights to Nepal.
Source: Republica
