Flights resume at TIA

8 Mar 2015, Kathmandu - The Tribhuvan International Airport resumed its normal operations on Saturday evening, four days after the Turkish Airlines A330 skidded off its runway, halting all international flights in and out of the country that left

thousands of people stranded.

The TIA authority issued an all-clear an hour after the Turkish aircraft was finally towed away to the domestic parking area at 6:30pm.

The rescue team toiled for more than 50 hours to move it away from the runway, according to Birendra Kumar Shrestha, general manager at the TIA.

“After checking all necessary systems, we issued flying permission to the airmen.” The airport authority said that around 1,000 people were deployed to retrieve the disabled plane.

Nepal Airlines Airbus A320 was the first flight to be cleared for takeoff for its Kathmandu -Delhi route. The plane left for Delhi at 10:22pm. Another Nepal Airlines flight RA239 took off for Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur at 11:20 pm, while Oman Air flight was scheduled to leave at 3:30 am.  

Cost of inefficiency

The four-day shutdown cost the nation millions of rupees in loss as the government failed to respond effectively to the incident.

“It had a multiplier effect on the country’s tourism, airlines, taxis, restaurants and hotels, and many more,” said Economist Devendra Raj Pandey. “Thousands of travellers were left stranded both in Nepal and foreign airports.

The hospitality sector has been the hardest hit at the peak tourist season due to government’s inefficiency and incompetence in handling the situation.

“We were forced to cancel 250 room nights over the past four days. More cancellations are taking place as we speak,” said Bharat Joshi, resident manager of the Hotel Yak & Yeti. The five-star hotels have incurred an estimated cumulative loss of Rs 8 million in revenue as a number of international conferences were cancelled.

Lessons learnt

Binayak Shah, vice-president of Hotel Association Nepal, said the shutdown not only hit the country’s economy but also left bad impression on tourists about their Nepal trip. “There have been flurry of hotel room cancellations in the peak season,” he said.

As Nepal is ill-equipped to tow the stranded plane, the government requested India for help. Subsequently, a Hercules plane belonging to the Indian Air Force flew in on Thursday, with the necessary removal kit and trained personnel. “The incident badly exposed Nepal’s readiness to such disasters,” said Aviation analyst Hemant Arjyal. “Indeed, it’s a big lesson for the government and the concerned authorities to prepare themselves for such incidents in the future,” he said, stressing on the need to build another full-fledged international airport.

But former tourism secretary Deependra Purush Dhakal played down the incident, saying that the government should be appreciated for what it has done something beyond its capacity.

However, the government’s response to the crisis remained extremely poor. The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement three days after the incident. The government also failed to give instructions to its mission abroad to take care of Nepalis stranded in different airports. The Foreign Ministry statement came only on Saturday stating that its missions have been asked to rescue stranded Nepalis. “This is a big lesson for us. We have realised how important a second international airport or a parallel runway is for the nation,” said Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, concluding the press meet at the TIA on Saturday evening.

“It has also exposed our reality of being ill-equipped, both in terms of necessary manpower and instruments.”

Airport open round the clock

An estimated 50,000 travellers have been stranded in Kathmandu and foreign airports since Wednesday. Twenty-five international airlines operate around 80 daily flights in and out of the TIA.

Former chairman of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies Bal Bahadur Tamang estimates that the closure of the country’s only international aerial gateway has affected more than 20,000 migrant workers. “It’s a national disgrace.”

As the passenger numbers have piled up, the TIA has decided to provide 24-hour service until March 11. “We are ready to permit additional flights for international airlines if they need them to handle the rush,” TIA chief Shrestha informed the media.

Turkish team arrives

The airport authority said the work to relocate the disabled aircraft would not have been possible if the Turkish team had not arrived here. As Nepali workers were in trouble to move the jet with its nose rested on a lorry to the hanger after it was lifted from the crash site, a Turkish engineer drove the truck. A seven-member technical team had landed on the TIA via a Cessna 560XL aircraft from Delhi at 3:15pm.