Posted by Carl on December 08, 1999 at 06:41:21:
In Reply to: EXTREMELY URGENT!!! posted by Chris on December 08, 1999 at 02:40:09:
Yes Chris, as reported by Jed via the everestnews it looks a distinct possibility.
I attach a snippet from the Kathmandu Post which gives a local perspective.
From Kathmandu Post 2 Dec, 1999
Government move to close airports assailed
-By Shree Ram Subedi
KATHMANDU, Dec 1 - The government's decision to close down
the airports at Lukla and Jomsom for repair next year is coming
under criticism from tourism entrepreneurs.
The two airports will be closed down from May next year for at
least 14 months for repair and upgrading. May, however, is the
peak mountaineering and trekking season and the closure of these
airports will hamper the flow of trekkers into the mountainous
areas.
Trekking operators say their tours have been booked in advance to
celebrate the new millennium that will be severely affected by the
closing down of the two busiest airports in the country. Moreover, it
is also going to affect the Sports Year 2001 and Destination Nepal
Year 2002, said the entrepreneurs.
The government made the decision to close down the two airports
along with some others for 14 months -- starting May to complete
the renovations, extension and tarring of runway, construction of
terminals and parking space.
Aviation officials, however, claim that the renovations will be
intensified when the tourist season will not be at its peak.
According to them, the airport will open for two and half months
from October when the tourist flow increases. They also claim that
with another parallel runway, the flights will not stop, however,
experts and technicians state that this will not be a practical
alternative.
The experts say that if it took 18 months to complete the first
phase of renovation in Pokhara Airport that was scheduled to be
finished in six months, it could take more than two years for the
works to complete in remote places like Lukla and Jomsom.
Birendra Bahadur Basnet of Buddha Air said the decision has
been made without proper analysis when the tourism industry is
flourishing.
President of Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATA) Bhola
Bikram Thapa said the government should bear the loss that occur
to the tourism entrepreneurs when these airport remain closed.
Most of the private airlines operate in this sector and it is
regarded
as a major portion of the profit since these routes are mostly used
by foreign tourists that pay as much as three times domestic
passengers do.
It is unfortunate that our airports have to be closed down merely for
the renovations, said Administrative Executive Director of Skyline
Airways Dorji T Sherpa.
He said that many companies have already sold Millennium
Packages and if these airports are closed tourism entrepreneurs
will have to bear an immense loss.
Tourism entrepreneur Sherpa said that this will affect both the
tourist seasons. April-May and October-November are regarded as
the main two tourist seasons of the year.
Narayan Singh Pun, Assistant Minister for Tourism and Civil
Aviation, said that the airline companies will incur losses if these
airports remain closed during both the tourist season. Pun himself
owns a private airline company.
"We have already instructed the civil aviation authorities to work in
close coordination with tourism entrepreneurs," Pun said.
During the tourist season, more than 30 planes land daily at Lukla
airport and at least six flights operate even during the off-seasons.
At the Jomsom airport, 12-15 planes land every day and 2-4 planes
operate even during the off-season.
According to the statistics provided by the Ministry of Tourism,
more than 65,000 trekked around Annapurna, Manang and
Jomsom while this number stands at 23,000 of the trekkers around
Sagarmatha.
Chief civil engineer at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN),
Upendra Dhital said that Lukla airport will not be closed down
during the tourist season of 2000.
Dhital said that parallel runway can be created in Jomsom since
the airport is spacious. However, a captain flying with the Royal
Nepal Airlines on condition of anonymity said that the airport has to
be closed down during the renovations and it cannot come under
use when the work is on.
Tourism entrepreneurs and private airlines are plagued more by the
fear that the works will not complete within the targeted time.
CAAN informs that a team will be send in the near future to study
about the possibility of parallel runway at the airport.
While executive director of CAAN, Narendra Ghimire said that the
airlines will save the money that is otherwise spent for the
maintenance of the planes.
End of article.