6 July, Kathmandu : Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey has said that Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) service improvement plan is being implemented to increase the efficiency of the airport.
In a meeting of the International Relations and Tourism Committee under the House of Representatives held at Singha Durbar today, Minister Pandey said since the airport has inter-stakeholder agencies such as immigration, customs, security agencies, airlines, etc., a committee has been formed under the leadership of the TIA general manager to make a reform action plan.
The ministry will bring the report with the committee’s action plan soon and make further efforts for service improvement. He also said that passengers arrive at the terminal building quickly and it seems to take a long time to receive their luggage, while passengers in airports of other countries take a long time to get off the plane and reach the terminal,” he said.
Tourism Minister Pandey also noted that although TIA has a capacity of handling 4.5 million passengers it has already handled 9.5 million passengers this year. Efforts are however being made to make the airport’s services easy and effective even amid the compulsion to manage passengers with almost double the capacity. He expressed confidence that initiative would be taken through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate the visa process from the Chinese Embassy for tourists going to Mansarovar. The committee discussed the Air Services Authority Bill, 2081.
During the deliberations, MPs Bhanubhakta Joshi, Sher Bahadur Kunwar and Prakash Jwala pointed out the need to enrich the bill to make aviation transport services safer while MP Roshan Karki emphasized that the bill should be finalized soon as it is very necessary and timely. MP Prem Suwal drew the attention of stakeholders to improve the management of the state-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation and build a well-equipped international airport.
MP Eknath Dhakal drew the attention of the Tourism Minister to make the Tribhuvan International Airport accessible, safe and friendly for the service recipients. MP Shishir Khanal demanded that the Tourism Minister facilitate the visa process, as hundreds of foreign citizens were waiting in hotels due to delays in the visa process for tourists going to Mansarovar from Nepal.
