The sorry tale of Karnali's airports

By Rajani Yogi,Surkhet, June20: It is hard to travel to Karnali by roads and it is hard to travel to Karnali by plane. The former is due to its topography and the latter is due to the condition of its airports. Some have been built but do not have flights, some are closed and waiting for upgrades and some have been 'under study' for years.

Construction without operation

Take the Masinechaur Airport of Dolpa for example. It was constructed in 2011 and blacktopped in 2015. All the necessary infrastructures have also been built. But the airport has not come into operation.

This has made the locals angry and frustrated. Bishnu Lal KC, a resident of Tripurasundari Municipality–7, called it an outrage. "We have an airport in our backyard. Yet, we have to walk a whole day to get on a plane at Juphal."

Tika Dutta Neupane of Tripurasundari–1 called on the authorities to bring the airport into service as soon as possible. "The region does not have any roads. So, we absolutely need the airport," he stressed.

Several plans have been announced to bring the airport into operation but none of them have reached anywhere. But, Bir Bahadur Shahi, member of the Karnali Provincial Assembly elected from Dolpa, wanted everyone to know that efforts were being made to begin regular flights to and from the airport. He informed that initiatives were being taken to conduct a test flight at Masinechaur at the earliest.

Construction has finished on Kalikot's Suntharali Airport as well. 

However, Nagendra Bahadur Bista, chairman of Narharinath Rural Municipality, said that the Nepal 

Airlines Corporation (NAC) had not been able conduct a test flight due to a lack of planes. 

The test flight was originally scheduled to be held on April 14. It got pushed back but Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, former chief minister of Karnali Province and sitting member of the House of Representatives, said that the test 

flight would be conducted before the end of July.

Juphal awaiting repair

Juphal Airport, the only operational airport in Dolpa, is also in need of repairs. Some parts of the aerodrome have begun subsiding. "We are seeking to bring Masinechaur into operation and then repair Juphal," Provincial Assembly member Shahi said. 

Simkot and Rara in need of upgradation

Planes are the primary means of travelling into and out of the mountainous district of Humla. But the main airport in the district headquarters Simkot lacks infrastructure, making air travel unsafe and unreliable. 

According to airport chief Mohan Giri, the air traffic control tower is dilapidated and needs repairs. He also highlighted the need to expand parking space for helicopters.

The situation is even worse in Rara where the tower is forced to operate out of a flimsy wooden hut. Rara Airport also does not have a protection fence because of which, animals come in and block the runway. The airport also lacks road access.

All talk, no action in Salyan, Dailekh and Jajarkot

Various studies have been conducted on various occasions to construct airports at various locations in Salyan. But none of them have materialised.

Most recently, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) conducted a study in 2021 to study the feasibility of constructing airports at four places in the district on the initiative of the-now Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala. However, the report of that study has not been made public yet.

Jwala assured that the work to build the airport would move forward. He acknowledged that the final report had not been released and said that the construction would move in line with the official report. 

Meanwhile, in Dailekh, the feasibility of constructing an airport at Mananchaur, Mahabu Rural Municipality, Dailekh was studied in 1991. But that report also continues to remain a secret.

Preliminary studies and discussions have been held at various times to construct airports at Dhitaha, Narayan Municipality and Thadolekh, Dullu Municipality too. They have not gone anywhere.

The airport at Wadalekh, Bheri Municipality–1 has also remained limited to words.

Chaurjahari Airport: Flightless since 2019

It has been four years since Chaurjahari Airport in Rukum (West) last hosted a flight. It was built in 1971 to serve the then united district of Rukum along with Jajarkot, Salyan and Dolpa. Local Riru Prasad Lamichhane said that the airport was in regular operation till 1992. Since then though, flights have been inconsistent and unreliable.

The airport has been completely closed since 2019.

Airport in one province, office in another

NAC has even moved its Chaurjahari Airport Office to Nepalgunj in Lumbini Province. This means that should flights resume, passengers will have to go to another province to purchase tickets. And this is not out of the question as Surendra Nepali, who was NAC's junior assistant station in-charge at Chaurjahari, said that the airport still had the infrastructures necessary to host planes. 

Surkhet Airport expansion plans up in the air 

Up until two years ago, the expansion of the Surkhet Airport was a provincial and national priority. However, the provincial government backed out a year ago and has announced that it will only play a facilitating role to support the federal government. The federal government though has started planning to build a new airport at Bheriganga as an alternative to Surkhet.