Crowded TIA
THE Sunday incident at the Tribhuvan
International Airport where a Necon Avro hit a parked battery charger cart brings to the
fore the congestion that is plaguing the only international airport of this country. The
plane, after landing, was on its way to the parking apron when its left-propeller hit a
nearby-parked Mountain Air’s battery cart that is used to carry the battery charger.
Fortunately, the plane, with 17 passengers and four crew members on board, did not suffer
a major mishap and thus those on board were not hurt. It could easily have been worse.
Necon Air blames the crowded apron as the principal reason behind the incident. Mountain
Air people imply it’s the Necon pilot’s fault.
Whatever the truth, it is indisputable that
TIA is a very crowded place indeed. Nepal’s open sky policy, pursued vigorously since
the early 90s has brought many aviators into the sky. The facilities on the ground,
unfortunately, have not kept pace with the arrival of the new birds, thus endangering air
safety. The space allotted to apron, taxi and the main runway remain the same while the
number of aircraft goes up and up. There are presently 70 aircraft in the country. Civil
Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has issued Aircraft Operating Certificates to dozens of
operators. Luckily for CAAN, only 20 companies are actually operating aircraft. If all the
licence-holders decide to start operation, TIA would present a nightmarish spectacle. At
any given time now, at least 15 aircraft remain parked at the apron while the size of the
apron is the same as it was when TIA would be hosting only a few planes at a time. CAAN
cannot pretend that it does not know the pell-mell situation of the TIA. Has it thought of
expanding the infrastructure at TIA or at leasing or streamlining the parking on the
ground? It should not wait for a major disaster to strike before it gets moving. In
TIA’s present state, it would be a surprise if in the future there is no more such
incidents as the one on Sunday. To start with, CAAN must insist that those airlines
operators who undertook to make airports outside Valley as their operating base must stick
to their promise so as to lessen the congestion at TIA. CAAN, for its part, must fulfil
its end of the agreement to provide adequate facilities in those airports for the
airliners to comfortably operate.
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