Nepal gives go ahead for second international airport

Government ministers in Nepal have given the green light to the construction of a second international airport in the land-locked Himalayan nation.

Tribhuvan International Airport terminal, Kathmandu. Image by Sharada Prasad CS / CC BY 2.0

Currently, the ageing Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu is the country’s only international hub, but the runway can only handle smaller passenger jets, and the airport is seven hours by road from the Terai plains, where most of Nepal’s heavy industry is located. Construction of the new airport at Nijgadh near Birgunj will begin in April 2016, and the new airport will be linked to the capital by the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track highway, which will cut the travel time between Kathmandu and the Terai to just a few hours. Read more: kathmandupost.com