On a foggy December morning, mix crews of Chinese and Nepali nationals are working on the foundation of what will be the terminal building of the new regional international airport in Pokhara. “Foundational level work of taxiway, apron and the hangar have almost been completed,” says June Zhu, site manager of the construction company, China CAMC Engineering, a state-owned enterprise. “I am happy to report 20 percent work is complete.”
Over three hundred Nepali and Chinese crew are working 12-hour shifts
Being built with the state-of-the-art technology, once complete, this airport would include features such as modern boarding bridges instead of shuttle buses that the TIA currently uses to transfer passengers from boarding area to the airplane. It will also feature Instrument Landing System (ILS), including a localizer, to assist in safe landing of the incoming airplanes even during bad weather. The Tribhuvan International Airport is yet to have ILS localizer and some experts have wondered if the March 12 US-Bangla plane crash that killed 52 passengers could have been avoided if the system had been in place.
An eight-storey air traffic control tower is being constructed with wide area multilateration (WAM) technology. In a mountainous terrain like ours, WAM has more advantage where the line of sight can be blocked by natural barriers. Given that Pokhara sees heavy rainfall, the runway will have concrete pavement, instead of asphalt. Concrete pavements are durable and have lower maintenance costs over time, according to engineers.
The project is being financed through a soft loan from China EXIM bank. Of the $215.96 million loan, 25 percent will be interest-free.
Over three hundred Nepali and Chinese crew are working 12-hour shifts. “We will increase the workforce, if we need to,” says Zhu, the site manager. “We would like to hand it over to the government before the June 2021 deadline.”
Both the federal and provincial governments as well as the private sector are pinning their hope on timely completion of this national pride project. In fact Gandaki Province’s whole growth strategy appears dependent on bringing two million tourists by 2022—and about half of them are expected to come through this airport. Once complete, this regional international airport will handle one million tourists annually.
A hotel construction spree is underway in Pokhara and surrounding areas, leading to a glut in rooms. Hoteliers report average annual occupancy of 45 percent.
The provincial government has begun lobbying other provinces for their consent to declare Pokhara as tourism capital of Nepal.
While agriculture and hydropower are other pillars of the economy, they seem dependent on increased arrivals and tourist consumption. The provincial government is bringing a policy to incentivize use of local agricultural produces in hospitality sector so that tourism dollars are spread to other areas of the economy. They are also encouraging resort and hotel owners to start their own farms with an aim of doubling agricultural output.
It is true that the provincial government does not have adequate policy and institutional mechanisms to effectively translate these ideas into action (only 30 percent of the available 2,000 public service vacancies have been filled). But it is only a matter of time before they do.
Given the natural endowments, human capital and provincial leadership, Gandaki is poised to be the model among seven provinces. Tourism earnings will play a key role in all these; and the state-of-the-art airport infrastructure sits at the center of that growth strategy.
