Pokhara International Airport (Nepali: पोखरा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थल) (IATA: PKR, ICAO: VNPR) is an international airport in Pokhara, Gandaki Province, Nepal. It is located 3 km (1.9 mi) east of the old domestic airport, which it will gradually replace. The airport is Nepal's third international airport and officially began operations on 1 January 2023,[4] with STOL-operations to Jomsom still being operated from the old airport.[5] The airport is expected to handle up to one million passengers per year,[6] but as of 2024[update] there has not been any regular international flights.
History
The concept of constructing an international airport in Pokhara was first developed in 1971.[7] In 1976, the Government of Nepal acquired land for that purpose.[8] In 1989, the Japan International Cooperation Agency conducted a study regarding the construction of the airport.[9] The project stalled, however, and was reinitiated in 2009, when a new agreement on air travel between India and Nepal was signed.[10] In 2013, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal signed an agreement with China CAMC Engineering for the construction of the airport. The construction started in April 2016 and was expected to be completed after five years in 2021, with a cost of around US$305 million,[6] out of which The Export-Import Bank of China provided around US$215 million preferential loan to Nepal and provided part of loan interest to lower the total loan interest. Further, the Asian Development Bank provided US$37 million in loans and grants and the OPEC Fund for International Development provided a US$11 million loan.[11] The bid total was nearly double what Nepal had origianlly projected it should cost, and it was later reduced by about 30 percent to $216 million.[12]
In April 2016, then Prime MinisterKP Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone of the airport, with the aim of beginning operations at the airport on 10 July 2021.[13] In 2020, it was proposed to open both new international airports of Nepal, Pokhara and Gautam Buddha Airport, on the same day.[14] In 2020, it was revealed that the close-by Rithepani Hill to the eastern end of the runway would need to be flattened to ease aircraft approach to the airport.[15] This decision was delayed due to severe protests by locals.[16] The flattening did not start until late 2022.[17]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, in 2021, the construction deadline was extended until 2022.[18] In October 2021, officials confirmed that the airport would open in two steps: domestic flights will begin in January 2022, while international flights will begin in April 2022.[19]
In 2022, it was announced that calibration flights would begin in October 2022.[20] They would later take place in late November 2022.[21]
The airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on 1 January 2023. To celebrate the occasion, the city of Pokhara declared the day a public holiday.[24] The first flight to arrive at the airport was a Buddha Air flight carrying the Prime Minister and his delegation.[25]
Development of the airport continued immediately after the opening with an initial lack of customs facilities[26] and a fuel depot — initially, fuel was being carried from the old Pokhara Airport on trucks.[27] The airport was also opened before it was certified for IFR flight, a contributing factor to the crash of Yeti Airlines Flight 691 only one month later.[28]
In June 2023, the airport saw its first international flight before which it only handled domestic services.[29] The first international flight was a Sichuan Airlines flight from China in an Airbus A319.[12] The flight was chartered and funded by China, and the passengers were Chinese athletes and officials who came for a good-will dragon-boat race.[30]
Controversy
In October 2023, the airport's construction was the subject of an investigation by The New York Times. The newspaper found that the airport's construction costs were deliberately inflated; and that was completed without several items that are typically required in building a new airport (such as taking local rainfall and soil conditions into account, which can leave it vulnerable to flooding). One consultant, originally hired to ensure the airport's construction adhered to international standards, estimated that Nepal's lack of oversight over the project led to it being charged at least double the market rate.[12]
Nepal must still repay the loan it took out from China to build the airport, and they may not be able to pay it out of revenue generated by the airport, which has no regularly scheduled international flights as of 2023[update]. As a result, The New York Times noted that the airport may become a debt trap, a problem shared by several other projects completed under China's Belt and Road Initiative.[12]The Times of India compared the airport to Pakistan's Gwadar Port, on which $10 billion in Chinese loans remain outstanding even while investment and activity at the port has stagnated (as of 2023[update]).[31]
In November 2023, Nepal's Commission for the Investigation of Abuse and Authority, an anti-corruption agency, announced that it had opened an investigation into the airport's construction.[32]
The airport has a single 2,500 m (8,202 ft 1 in) long runway with a width of 45 metres (147 ft 8 in). It has an east-west orientation with a 330-metre (1,082 ft 8 in) runway strip.[35] The airport has a concrete runway and has the markings of the centerline, edge, touchdown zone, and the threshold. The taxiway (1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) long and 23 metres (75 ft 6 in) wide) is built from the runway central line on the north side parallel to the runway.[35] The airside infrastructure works also includes two 182.5-by-23-metre (598 ft 9 in × 75 ft 6 in) exit taxiways, access roads, and aerodrome pavement.[36] The runway is capable of handling aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737.[37] All international landings and takeoffs will be done using the Eastern part of the runway. Domestic flights and landings will use both Eastern and Western sides.[38]
Aids to navigation
The airport's terminal during construction
The airport features a 2,500-square-metre (27,000 sq ft) Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, operations building and an air navigation unit. There are two non-precision approaches available at the Pokhara Airport; VHF omnidirectional range along a distance measuring equipment (VOR/DME) and Required Area Navigation (RNAV/RNP).[39] The airport is also equipped with a CAT-I ILS system, which includes equipment such as the localizer and the glide path to help aircraft in navigation.[40] The ATC tower also supports Wide area multilateration (WAM) based surveillance system, the first of its kind in Nepal.[41]
High intensity 870 metres (2,854 ft 4 in) extended centerline lights are installed at the southern end of the airport to assist with the approach. It is equipped with advanced communication, navigation, and monitoring equipment and a high-end navigational lighting system.[42]
The airport during construction, seen from the apron side
ILS system is said to be operational only after 26 Feb 2023.[43]
Terminals
There are two public terminals at the airport, one for international traffic and one for domestic traffic. The new airport infrastructure includes a 10,000-square-metre (110,000 sq ft) international terminal building with a steel roof as well as a 3,500-square-metre (38,000 sq ft) customs and cargo building.[33] The international terminal can handle up to 610 departing passengers per hour. Two terminals, one domestic and one international, will be able to handle one million passengers annually. The 4,000-square-metre (43,000 sq ft) domestic terminal is located to the western side of the airport.[citation needed]
Aircraft maintenance
Buddha Air plans on constructing a hangar that can accommodate aircraft up to the size of an Airbus A319.[44] The airport will also feature a 6,000-square-metre (65,000 sq ft) domestic and international hangar.[citation needed]
Air routes
Nepal has asked India since 2014 (or earlier) for new air routes, but has not received them. Even though air routes are governed by the Freedoms of the air commercial aviation rights, India and Nepal are both signatories to it but one of India's reasons is that it involves India's security.[45][46][47][48][49] Nepal has also proposed Himalaya 1, 2 and 3 air routes[clarification needed]. These have not been implemented yet.[50][51][importance?]
Airlines and destinations
In 2018, Buddha Air first announced that it was planning to operate its planned international fleet of Boeing or Airbus aircraft out of the airport.[52] In mid-2021, Biman Bangladesh Airlines was the first international carrier to plan to serve the airport upon opening.[53] The first Nepali Airline, Buddha Air, revealed plans in late 2022 to make Varanasi, in the Indian state of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, the first destination from the airport.[54]
The airport is located linked by an access road with the Prithvi Highway. Buses also connect the airport to Pokhara's city centre.[citation needed]
Incidents and accidents
On 15 January 2023, Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashed on approach to Pokhara International Airport. The aircraft, an ATR 72-500, was carrying 72 people on board with 68 passengers when it crashed on the bank of the Seti Gandaki River. The airport was closed as authorities launched a rescue operation, but there were no survivors.[58]
