बल्ल खुल्यो सरकारको चेत: अत्याधुनिक उपकरणसहित विमानस्थलमा हुँदैछ ब्यापक सुधार (भिडियो)

Tribhuvan International Airport

The Himalaya mountain range alongside which the country is located is home to eight of the world’s tallest peaks, including the iconic Mount Everest. However, even in an age when no corner of the globe seems out of reach, travelling to Nepal is fraught with danger. For those of us willing to brave the journey, there is only one gateway to Nepal’s Himalayan havens: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu. Even though Nepal’s economy depends mostly on foreign aid and tourism, the country’s sole international airport is in a very sorry state. In addition to a lack of infrastructural facilities and equipment, alleged mismanagement by the airport authorities have hampered its operational activities. A 2016 survey by the airport review agency “Sleeping in Airports” ranked Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal as the second worst airport in Asia, behind only Tashkent International Airport in Uzbekistan. The rankings are based on comfort, services, security and immigration. “Ideally, an international airport must function like a city, where a person can find everything that one needs,” Rajesh Raj Dali, a former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), told the Kathmandu Post. “One cannot transform the TIA in a day. The speed at which this target can be met depends on the capability of the management, ability of the country’s economy and available technology. Only then, we can meet the guidelines.”