POKHARA, Jan 2: On June 18, a Sichuan Airlines flight from Chengdu, China, landed at Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA), which was the first international flight with passengers after the airport came into operation. The aircraft from Sichuan landed in Pokhara with 84 Chinese guests who arrived to participate in the Dragon Boat Race Festival held at Fewa Lake. The plane returned empty via Kathmandu.

On September 8, a Druk Air flight from Bhutan's Paro International Airport landed in Pokhara. It was the second international flight to PRIA. Druk brought three passengers when it came to Pokhara and took 42 foreign passengers when it returned. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) stated that Druk's flight was the first commercial flight from PRIA.

On November 8, two Chinese cargo aircraft landed in Pokhara carrying relief materials provided by the Chinese government for the earthquake victims of Jajarkot and Rukum. Similarly, on November 23, a Himalayan Airlines plane arrived in Pokhara from China with a team of Chinese athletes. There were 95 people on this flight, including players and sports technicians. Himalayan Airlines also conducted a demo flight on the first day of the airport's operation on January 1, 2023.

The Himalayan Airlines plane landed at Pokhara airport on November 10 with 33 domestic passengers and returned the next day with 39 domestic passengers. 

According to CAAN, only seven international flights have taken place to and from PRIA so far. Altogether 215 international passengers have disembarked at the airport, and 81 have traveled away. The authority has stated that the airport has served a total of 296 passengers in the international flight segment during one year.

The local residents of Pokhara welcomed the operation of PRIA with great fanfare on the first day of the English New Year 2023. After the international airport came into operation, not only Pokhara but the entire Gandaki Province was elated. The tourism sector was even more hopeful that foreign guests would be able to land directly in Pokhara and fly from Pokhara.

However, with the international airport in operation for a year, there are complaints everywhere that the tourism sector and the entire Gandaki Province have not been able to benefit from the airport as expected. A total of seven (including two cargo) flights took place within a year towards the highly anticipated international flight segment. After the international airport came into operation, there has been an improvement in domestic flights but the airport has not been able to accelerate towards international flights.

“We did not think that only seven international flights would land in Pokhara in one year. This number was expected to be much higher. However, the international flights were limited to just seven flights, including cargo," said Pom Narayan Shrestha, chairman of Pokhara Tourism Council (PTC), "We were hopeful that there would be at least 2-3 international flights a day. However, a large number of flights have not been scheduled even after a year.”

According to the CAAN, one of the seven international flights was a demo flight of Himalayan airlines, which landed on the day of the airport's inauguration. There were only domestic passengers on the Himalayan Airlines flight that arrived on November 10 and returned the next day.

"These aircraft came because of the special event in Pokhara. Otherwise, there has not been a single regular flight so far," Shrestha said.

He mentioned that two flights were held due to sports competitions such as boat races and bicycle races in Pokhara, and the other one came from Bhutan to transport foreign guests. 

Regarding domestic flights, there is an increase in flights on the Pokhara-Kathmandu route, with flights operating till late night.

"Regular international flights have not been finalized yet and there are still no such signs," said Shrestha. He expressed hope that the government would initiate direct flights of Nepal Airlines, a state-owned airline company, connecting Pokhara to international destinations, but that expectation did not materialize. "People's wish was to start direct flights to international destinations with Nepal Airlines to connect Pokhara, but that did not happen," he added.

President Shrestha believes that the initiative to attract various international airlines to Pokhara has been insufficient. "We did not expect this result in one year. We were hopeful that there would be more flights, but it was not as expected," Shrestha said.

Basu Tripathi, a former member of the tourism board, criticized the government for its weakness in the international flight segment. Tripathi said that the government's lack of seriousness about the tourism sector has been a major hindrance for operating regular international flights.

Gyanendra Bhul, information officer of the CAAN, urged one and all to be patient.

"Let's not rush and feel sad about the airport not operating at full capacity at present. If it continues like this in ten years, then it would be a matter of concern," Bhul said. He emphasized that PRIA, in its early stages of development, will take a few more years to generate income. Initiatives are being taken for regular international flights from the airport. 

Bhul said there were high expectations that the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa would operate from a religious point of view and Pokhara from a tourist point of view, but that expectation did not materialize. Bhul urged coordination among all agencies for the airport to operate at full capacity, emphasizing that the responsibility for building the airport should not solely rest with the authority but also involve other government agencies.

 
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