KATHMANDU: The countdown is over. The nation officially welcomed Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY 2011) with a huge celebration yesterday. While preparations have been on for a long
time, the question that lingers is — how prepared are we o welcome the targeted million visitors?
One need not go far for an answer. Just visit Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the entry point for 70 per cent tourists visiting Nepal. The nation’s only international airport is struggling with inadequate infrastructure, lack of proper service and vigilance plus congestion in both the parking bay as well as the terminal.
Stretched beyond capacity
“The terminal is designed to handle 1,350 people at peak hours, but we have to adjust 2,500 to 3,000 people,” said Dinesh Prasad Shrestha, General Manager, TIA Civil Aviation Office. Shrestha says efforts are on to address such problems, like allocation of parking
bay and opening a new zone at the waiting room, among others. He said work has been done for safety and security enhancement like runway overlay, radar overhaul, installation of CCTVs, and new
X-ray machines. But there is a bigger problem — “airspace congestion”.
Flights every 1.5 minute
“We have reached saturation point,” he said pointing out the single runway and unfavourable topography. “At present there are 440 movements, more than 90 per cent of them during daytime. This means, every one-and-a-half minute, either a plane lands or takes off,” he said. Shifting movement to night hours could be an option he says. “The process of making the runway usable 24 hours is going on”.
Nepal Tourism Board is aware of these constraints.
“We have come up with suggestions to help manage extra arrivals by spreading passenger flow. Operating flights to Indian cities like Varanasi and Lucknow from airports in cities like Biratnagar and Pokhara is an option. We can also even off the flow by promoting religious tourism during off-season, and even making TIA capable of 24-hour service,” said Prachanda Man Shrestha, Chairman of NTB.
Lost baggage hassles
The problems at TIA, however, don’t stop with infrastructure. A day after he returned to Nepal, Som Bahadur Limbu had to make a trip to TIA again to retrieve his only luggage. “I couldn’t find it yesterday. Today, I found out my luggage had not been put on the conveyor belt.”
The conveyor belts are old and not equipped to handle the present traffic. “One of the belts (out of three) is out of condition.”
For Daphney Bongers from Holland, her three-week holiday in Nepal was ruined
because her luggage arrived two weeks late. Bongers had
a suggestion, “The area where
I had to look for my bags
was one big mess; they need to improve that place.”
Whitewashing only?
“They opened this new area, took photos and that’s it. Nothing has improved for NTY,” said a tourist police.
He said he receives 12 to
13 complaints from tourists every month and most of
them are related to service. According to him “rude people” and “no help received” are
the common remarks in
feedback forms .
time, the question that lingers is — how prepared are we o welcome the targeted million visitors?
One need not go far for an answer. Just visit Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the entry point for 70 per cent tourists visiting Nepal. The nation’s only international airport is struggling with inadequate infrastructure, lack of proper service and vigilance plus congestion in both the parking bay as well as the terminal.
Stretched beyond capacity
“The terminal is designed to handle 1,350 people at peak hours, but we have to adjust 2,500 to 3,000 people,” said Dinesh Prasad Shrestha, General Manager, TIA Civil Aviation Office. Shrestha says efforts are on to address such problems, like allocation of parking
bay and opening a new zone at the waiting room, among others. He said work has been done for safety and security enhancement like runway overlay, radar overhaul, installation of CCTVs, and new
X-ray machines. But there is a bigger problem — “airspace congestion”.
Flights every 1.5 minute
“We have reached saturation point,” he said pointing out the single runway and unfavourable topography. “At present there are 440 movements, more than 90 per cent of them during daytime. This means, every one-and-a-half minute, either a plane lands or takes off,” he said. Shifting movement to night hours could be an option he says. “The process of making the runway usable 24 hours is going on”.
Nepal Tourism Board is aware of these constraints.
“We have come up with suggestions to help manage extra arrivals by spreading passenger flow. Operating flights to Indian cities like Varanasi and Lucknow from airports in cities like Biratnagar and Pokhara is an option. We can also even off the flow by promoting religious tourism during off-season, and even making TIA capable of 24-hour service,” said Prachanda Man Shrestha, Chairman of NTB.
Lost baggage hassles
The problems at TIA, however, don’t stop with infrastructure. A day after he returned to Nepal, Som Bahadur Limbu had to make a trip to TIA again to retrieve his only luggage. “I couldn’t find it yesterday. Today, I found out my luggage had not been put on the conveyor belt.”
The conveyor belts are old and not equipped to handle the present traffic. “One of the belts (out of three) is out of condition.”
For Daphney Bongers from Holland, her three-week holiday in Nepal was ruined
because her luggage arrived two weeks late. Bongers had
a suggestion, “The area where
I had to look for my bags
was one big mess; they need to improve that place.”
Whitewashing only?
“They opened this new area, took photos and that’s it. Nothing has improved for NTY,” said a tourist police.
He said he receives 12 to
13 complaints from tourists every month and most of
them are related to service. According to him “rude people” and “no help received” are
the common remarks in
feedback forms .
What ails only int’l airport?
• Inadequate infrastructure, lacks quality service, vigilance and there’s too much congestion
• Can’t handle peak hour arrivals
• Single runway, unfavourable topography
• Airspace congestion — 90 per cent of 440 movements happen in daytime. There’s either a landing or take-off every 1.5 minute
• One conveyor belt out of three is out of order
• Twelve to 13 complaints from tourists in a month, mostly related to service. ‘Rude people’, ‘No help
received’ are the common remarks in tourists’
• Can’t handle peak hour arrivals
• Single runway, unfavourable topography
• Airspace congestion — 90 per cent of 440 movements happen in daytime. There’s either a landing or take-off every 1.5 minute
• One conveyor belt out of three is out of order
• Twelve to 13 complaints from tourists in a month, mostly related to service. ‘Rude people’, ‘No help
received’ are the common remarks in tourists’
No comments:
Post a Comment