Built Pokhara Airport

Chinese-Built Pokhara Airport Fails To Take Off

Under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing built the Pokhara international airport in Nepal in January but since it came into operation, there are no signs of the airport receiving any international flights, The Annapurna Express reported.

According to the airport authorities, although the talks are ongoing with China, India and other countries, the chances of international airlines making flights to and from Pokhara airport in the near future appear slim. Without international flights, the airport cannot make sufficient income to sustain itself.
According to officials in the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the airport should conduct at least 100 daily domestic flights and 50 weekly international flights in order to sustain its operations.

Earlier, when the Pokhara International Airport was inaugurated, it invited a short-lived criticism after China placed it under the BRI, even though the agreement for the airport project was finalised before Nepal became part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Talking about the loan, Vijay Kant Karna, executive chairperson at the Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism (CESIF), said, “This is a 100 per cent loan, not aid taken from the Chinese bank, so it is inappropriate to publicize it as aid from China.”

“The only concession is that we do not have to pay the interest of 25 per cent loans, so if we say it is a loan it gives another message to the public,” he added.

Earlier, in 2014, Luo Yan, chairman of the China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd., and Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, director general of CAAN, had signed a contract worth USD 215.96m for the construction of the airport.

On 21 March 2016, China Exim Bank and the Nepalese government signed a government concessional loan (GCL) agreement worth RMB 1.37bn for the Pokhara International Regional Airport Construction Project.

According to The Annapurna Express citing AidData, a research lab based in Washington DC, 25 per cent of the loan value (RMB 355.9m) was provided without interest and with a maturity period of 20 years and a grace period of 7 years.

The remaining 75 per cent of the loan value (RMB 1.02bn) was provided at a 2 per cent interest rate, a 20-year maturity period and a 7-year grace period.

The AidData report further says that Nepal used the proceeds from this loan agreement to on-lend to CAAN at a five per cent interest rate (with a 20-year maturity period and a 7-year grace period) through a Subsidiary Loan Agreement (SLA) that was finalized on 5 June 2016.

The airport construction project was delayed after China Exim Bank set a condition that a joint escrow account should be set up into which CAAN-the project executing agency-would have to deposit the income generated from all its airports, according to the report.

CAAN refused to do so which delayed the release of the project’s funds and construction of the airport stalled. However, CAAN and China Exim Bank eventually agreed in 2017 to only deposit revenues generated by Pokharan Int Regional Airport into escrow accounts, reported The Annapurna Express.

The airport has to pay USD 3.2m alone in annual interest. Officials say the airport must have an income of at least Rs 1.5 bn annually. If used to its full potential, the airport could raise income to sustain its operating expenses but that would not be enough to pay the instalment of loans

including interest.

Some economists are of the opinion that there was no proper homework about the operational side of the airport. According to them, it was necessary to make an action plan on how to operate the airport constructed with a loan.

“The loan was taken without taking these issues into consideration,” says economist Keshav Acharya, as per the report in The Annapurna Express. (ANI)

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Nepal: 68 Dead In Yeti Airlines Crash

Nepal: 68 Dead In Yeti Airlines Crash

Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday said that 68 passengers on board the ATR-72 Yeti Airlines flight, which crashed somewhere between the old airport of Pokhara region and the Pokhara International Airport, were confirmed dead.

The Kathmandu-Pokhara flight had 68 passengers, including five Indians, as well as four crew members.
The notice issued by Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority reads that around 10:30 am, the flight carrying 68 passengers including, 5 Indians, 4 Russians, and 1 Irish took off.

“Nepali Army, Police Force, Airport Rescue, and Fire Fighting and Nepal Police will be informed about the rescue operation. Total number 72 including crew female 25 male 30, standard, white. So far, the death toll is 68,” the statement reads.

Indian leaders also conveyed their condolences on the incident. Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed their grief.

The Indian embassy informed that it was in contact with the local authorities. “We are deeply saddened by the crash of a plane carrying 72 passengers and crew members, including some Indians in Pokhara. We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased. Our thoughts and prayers at this time are with all those affected by this tragedy,” Shankar P Sharma, the Nepal’s ambassador to India, tweeted.

The India embassy helpline numbers — Diwakar Sharma: +977-9851107021 for Kathmandu and Lt Col Shashank Tripathi: +977-9856037699 for the Pokhara region — to help the kin of the deceased Indian passengers.

Meanwhile, the Nepal government declared a day of national mourning tomorrow. The government has also announced that a five-member committee will be formed to investigate the crash.

Newly elected Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane were scheduled to visit Pokhara after the crash but now, the plans have been canceled according to Dahal’s Chief Personal Secretary Ramesh Malla.

Further, the Prime Minister directed Home Ministry, security personnel, and all the government agencies to carry out immediate rescue and relief operations. (ANI)

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