September 1: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has not been able to achieve its income target in the last four years. The aviation regulatory body has released details of its income of Rs 16.49 billion which is less than the estimated target in four years from the fiscal year 2019/20.

The CAAN has said that it has not been able to generate income as per the target since the financial year 2019/20 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The authority had set a target of earning Rs 14.32 billion in the last fiscal year (FY 2022/23) alone. The actual income of the authority that year was less than the target by Rs 927.1 million.

It seems that the CAAN has been increasing the income target every year since the fiscal year 2019/20. However, this goal has not been achieved. According to the CAAN, since the income increases at the rate of 10 percent every year, the target of income is set at the same ratio. However, the authority claims that the target has been affected by the impact of Covid-19.

Due to the Covid-19, air traffic has diminished since March 24, 2020. Likewise, the construction of airports, including domestic and international has been delayed, causing damage to the 'time value of money' while international air traffic has not yet reached the pre-Covid-19 level, argued CAAN officials.

The CAAN earns income from fees collected from landing, parking, ground handling of aircraft as well as the rent of the airport and physical infrastructures of the CAAN.