Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal 

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) was established as an autonomous regulatory body on 31 December 1998 under Civil Aviation Act, 1996. CAAN was set up with the objective of making aviation safe, regular, standard and efficient. Its prime goal is to ensure flight safety and sustainability of civil aviation. It has the responsibilities of constructing, operating and maintaining airports. 

 

Tribhuvan International Airport 

Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is the sole international airport in Nepal and has one domestic and one international terminal. At present, about 28 international airlines connect Nepal to destinations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In addition to the international airlines, there are a total of 15 domestic airlines in Nepal – 9 companies with fixed wing aircraft and another 6 companies with rotor wing aircraft. The country has a total of 54 domestic airports including the TIA. 

 

Future Expansion 

There is a domestic terminal being constructed on the existing premises of the TIA. The project with an investment of Rs 100 million is scheduled to be completed by 2014. Meanwhile, a taxi parking area is also being constructed in front of the TIA with a capacity to accommodate over 200 taxis at a time. 

 

As for the international terminal, the current capacity of 8 aircraft parking is being expanded to a total of 17. The runway length too is going to be expanded by a further 300 metres (current 3,030 metres). The expansion project at the TIA is slated to be completed by 2016 with a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

 

Also, three major civil aviation projects fall under the purview of the National Planning Commission as priority projects. The planned projects include the construction of the much talked Second International Airport (SIA) in Nijgadh, Bara. An agreement on constructing a new regional international airport at Pokhara is expected to be signed over the next two months. The airport will be built by the Chinese engineering firm CAMC with the loan to be provided by the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank). Besides these two new airports, upgrading of the current Bhairahawa airport as a regional international airport with grant and loan from ADB Bank is also in the pipeline.