Civil aviation’s role vital in tourism dev, says Chataut

December 31, 2000
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Kathmandu, Dec. 31: Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MOCTCA) Tarini Dutta Chataut said today that adoption of an open sky policy in the early 1990s has given momentum of Nepal’s development.

“Air transport has done away with the remoteness and land-lockedness of the country. The government has realised the vital role of civil aviation in the development of tourism and poverty alleviation,” said chief guest Chataut, speaking at a function to mark the second anniversary of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

On the occasion, he launched a CAAN Special Souvenir.

CAAN was established on 31 December 1998, replacing the then Department of Civil Aviation.

He stressed the need for a co-operative approach to enhancing air safety both at the national and international levels.

He also said that the CAAN Board has taken decisions to evaluate the technical, engineering and operations aspects of existing airlines as well as their impact on Nepal’s social and economic development.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary at the MOCTCA Varun Prasad Shrestha said that Nepal had witnessed modest growth in all spheres of civil aviation and air transport after the government’s adoption of the liberal aviation policy.

“This development scenario has, however, brought about a series of challenges in the tourism and aviation sector. To tackle them, CAAN, an autonomous regulatory body to look after the aviation industry, has been established,” Shrestha added.

He said that the government had decided to mark “Destination Nepal Year-2002” to bring in one million tourists. “CAAN has a special role to provide safe, reliable, well-managed air transport to the visitors.”

He emphasised the need to review the policies, processes, measures and strategies for enhancing air safety and security on which depends the success of the travel, trade and tourism business.

Delivering his welcome speech, Medini Prasad Sharma, Director General of CAAN, said CAAN was planning to restructure the existing international air routes to involve Nepalese airlines to operate on major international and regional routes.

Nepal has signed air services agreement with 31 different countries of the world. The number of available two-way air seats has reached 3,825,432 annually. But utilisation stands at only 27.5 per cent.

He said, as per the call of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), CAAN has started to implement the Communication Navigation Surveillance and Air Traffic Management System (CNS/ATM) to ensure air safety in a phase-wise manner under a 10-year programme.

Besides, CAAN has set a target of improving the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system and other related equipment by March 2001 as per the agreement signed between HMG and Japan.

The work of converting the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) into a modern computerised system is underway.

There are a total of 44 airports in the country, including one international and four regional ones. Thirty-two private sector airlines have taken the air operator certificate (AOCs) so far, and 17 airlines are operating flights in the domestic sector. Internally, the country saw an increase by 330 per cent in the number of air operators and 313 per cent in passenger arrivals in 1999 compared to 1991.

In the international front, a total of 16 airlines operate flights to and from Kathmandu.

Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) witnessed a growth of 41 per cent in airlines and passenger arrivals in 1999 as compared to 13 per cent in 1991.

On the occasion, Chairman of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) Hari Bhakta Shrestha, President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) Narendra Bajracharya and President of Nepal Freight Forwarders Association R. M. Singh felicitated CAAN.