Gautam Buddha International Airport is waiting for regular international flights, when will the dream come true?
लगानी न्यूज
Rupandehi. The international terminal of the airport is in a dilapidated condition. The modern building, shining counter, X-ray machine, immigration desk, departure hall and the runway are all ready but there is no crowd of passengers. Sometimes a charter flight arrives, some passengers disembark, get back on the same plane, and then the airport returns to the same silence.
The Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA), which came into operation four years ago with great enthusiasm as the second international airport of Nepal, is still waiting for regular international flights.TAG_OPEN_div_86 Despite investment of billions of rupees, modern infrastructure and attractive concessions provided by the government, the airport has not been able to pick up the expected pace.
Conversations with the airport administration, the private sector and tourism entrepreneurs show a common conclusion. The problem is not with the runway or the building, but with policy, market management and decision-making. According to Shyam Kishor Shah, officiating general manager of Gautam Buddha International Airport, last time the Thai Air Asia operated regular flights twice a week on the Bangkok-Bhairahawa-Bangkok route. Now that the summer schedule has started, there will be no regular international flights till October. However, charter flights are being operated in between.
According to Shah, the main reason for the airlines shutting down regular services is the lack of passengers.TAG_OPEN_div_82 “Aircraft will come but there is no expected occupancy. Even if there are a few passengers on the way back, the plane is empty. It is difficult to sustain regular flights in such a situation as commercial companies look at profit,” he said. But he doesn’t entirely agree with the conclusion that he wasn’t a passenger. “Passengers from not only Lumbini province but also from Madhes, Koshi and Sudurpaschim among other states used to come to Bhairahawa in the past. There is a possibility of a passenger. The problem was in passenger management,” he said.
According to Shah, airlines alone are not enough to make international flights successful.TAG_OPEN_div_80 The entire system of transporting passengers to the ship should be active. “Manpower companies sending migrant workers, travel agencies selling tickets and general sales agents (GSA) all had to work together. That didn’t happen,” he said.
According to him, although some foreign airlines are interested in flying to Bhairahawa, their general sales agents in Nepal are concentrated in Kathmandu.TAG_OPEN_div_77 Since all their business structures are in the capital, they also insist on flying passengers from Kathmandu. “The GSA in Kathmandu did not cooperate adequately with the local travel agencies. There was no concession in fare, easy availability of tickets or joint promotion of the market. So, it was difficult to fill the planes,” Shah said.
According to him, this market structure has become a bigger challenge than the infrastructure to operate the airport.TAG_OPEN_div_75 Shah has another question about his own national flag bearer. It would have sent a positive message to foreign airlines if Nepal Airlines Corporation and Himalayan Airlines had started regular international flights from Bhairahawa. “If the Nepali flag carrier had started flights from here, would the environment have been created? After that, it would have been easier for foreign companies to come,” he says.
The future of Bhairahawa is also related to India. Indian airlines can easily operate flights to Bhairahawa from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and other cities. He complained that although the number of Indian tourists and Buddhist pilgrims could be significantly increased, necessary initiatives have not been taken from the government level for the same. Gautam Buddha International Airport and Pokhara International Airport have not been included in the Air Service Agreement between Nepal and India.
He pointed out the need to review the agreement according to the new reality.TAG_OPEN_div_71 “Indian Airlines is now operating many flights to Kathmandu daily. There should be a formal initiative from the government level to allow them to operate flights from Bhairahawa as well,” he said.
The government has been providing various financial concessions to attract airlines operating international flights from Bhairahawa.TAG_OPEN_div_69 Similarly, 100 percent discount on landing fee, navigation fee, passenger service fee, 75 percent discount on ground handling fee and significant discount on aviation fuel compared to Kathmandu has been announced. These discounts are intended to offset the financial loss to airlines due to the lack of passengers, but his conclusion is clear: “Concessions alone are not enough.” If the management of passengers and the structure of the ticket market are not improved, the discount alone will not sustain regular flights. ”
The international air traffic statistics of TAG_OPEN_div_67 the airport also show fluctuations. From 2022 to May 2026, 1,218 international flights operated and 69,316 passengers were served. In 2023, the number of passengers dropped to 4,751. Although the number will increase to 19,590 in 2025, it is considered to be even lower in terms of the capacity of the international airport. Only 4,153 passengers have taken service till May this year.
Another feature of Bhairahawa Airport is the Instrument Landing System (ILS) installed here.TAG_OPEN_div_65 According to Shah, this system is an important asset for Nepal as it helps in safe landing even in low visibility. Interestingly, such a facility is not available at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, but about 1.3 km of its ‘secondary protection zone’ falls on the Indian side, so necessary agreement with India is yet to be signed. He admits that there has been a lot of correspondence on this issue but there has not been enough follow-up from both sides after that. This has not created any direct problem in international flights that have not been operated so far.
Even after four years of the operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport, the lack of regular international flights has disappointed the private sector.TAG_OPEN_div_63 But representatives of the private sector believe that the problem goes much deeper than the lack of passengers. According to them, the airport has not been able to realize its real potential due to the government’s policy confusion, Kathmandu-centric air market, inadequate diplomatic initiatives with India and poor coordination.
Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, president of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Lumbini Province, blamed the government’s policy weakness for the delay in the operation of Gautam Buddha International Airport.TAG_OPEN_div_61 According to him, for the past four years, the government has only been assuring that the airport will function. Now concrete decisions are needed, not assurances. He said, “There is a lot of air pressure at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu every day. Planes have been held in the sky for a long time to land. In such a situation, the government should immediately bring a policy to use the second international airport in an effective manner. ”
Thapa suggests, “The government should amend the aviation policy to clearly classify international flights.”TAG_OPEN_div_59 If full-service carriers and large wide-body aircraft can be concentrated in Kathmandu, then budget airlines and narrow-body aircraft targeting Buddha circuit, religious tourism and regional market should not only be encouraged to land in Bhairahawa, but policy arrangements should be made if necessary. ”
He believes that the Gautam Buddha International Airport will not be able to pick up the expected speed until the government changes the current situation of all international flights being concentrated in Kathmandu.TAG_OPEN_div_57 He claimed that most of the international airlines operating in Nepal are under the control of a limited number of businessmen based in Kathmandu. New international airports like Bhairahawa and Pokhara have not got the opportunity to compete as the entire authority of ticket sales, market management, publicity and passenger distribution is concentrated in a few companies.
“The GSA of Kathmandu manages the aircraft market according to its own business interests. Local travel agencies are not given adequate support, concessions or equal access to tickets,” Thapa said. He proposed that the government should bring a policy to appoint local level GSAs for Bhairahawa and Pokhara. He claimed that the tourism entrepreneurs and travel companies of Lumbini are ready to take responsibility even after investing a lot if the flight is guaranteed.
Shrestha said that many foreign tourists who come to Lumbini want to visit Buddhist pilgrimage sites of India as well, but now there is a provision that the Indian e-visa holders are not allowed to enter India through Belahiya border point.TAG_OPEN_div_53 He said that this has weakened the concept of Buddha Circuit. He stressed that the Nepal government should resolve this problem through high-level diplomatic initiatives with India. Thousands of youths from western Nepal go abroad for foreign employment every year, but they are still compelled to go to Kathmandu for medical tests, labour permits, biometric and visa procedures. He believes that a large number of passengers from this region can be connected to international flights if labour desk, medical centre and visa centre of major countries could be established in Bhairahawa.
Thakur TAG_OPEN_div_51 Kumar Shrestha, president of Lumbini Province of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said that Gautam Buddha International Airport should not be considered only as a project of Rupandehi. “It is easier for the people of Dhangadhi, Nepalgunj, Dang, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur to reach Bhairahawa in terms of time and expense than to travel to Kathmandu by plane,” he said. According to Shrestha, the government should fulfill its responsibility before blaming others. “Why can’t the government-owned Nepal Airlines start one regular international flight daily?” he asked.
According to him, if Nepal Airlines and Himalayan Airlines start regular flights, it will send a positive message to the market.TAG_OPEN_div_49 After that, foreign airlines can also be attracted to Bhairahawa. The private sector has also suggested that cargo flights can be pursued as an alternative if it is difficult to expand passenger flights immediately.
If the airport has adequate physical infrastructure, manpower and operating capacity, then agricultural products, industrial goods, and export trade can find new markets.TAG_OPEN_div_47 Direct air connectivity with India is being seen as linked to the future of the airport. If regular flights start from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Varanasi or Lucknow, not only Indian tourists but also Buddhists, pilgrims and tourists from third countries will be able to come directly to Lumbini. Along with Lumbini, tourism in Palpa, Pokhara, Muktinath and western Nepal will also be directly benefited.
} The airport started in 2021 BS from Ghasse Air Ground has been operating from its current location as a domestic airport since 2023 BS. The then Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had laid the foundation stone for the international airport on January 15, 2014 and then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had inaugurated the airport on May 15, 2022. The Gautam Buddha International Airport is spread over eight hundred bighas of land and has a three-kilometer runway. There are nine category fire engines in the ‘Four E’ category airport. Four narrow-body and one wide-body aircraft can be parked in the airport with taking off and landing at par with Tribhuvan International Airport.
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