A government team is scheduled to hold a final round of negotiation to rope in Germany’s Munich Airport to provide operational management services at Nepal’s second international airport in Bhairahawa.

Rajan Pokhrel, director general at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, said that a round of negotiation with the company has been completed and the final negotiation would be completed immediately after the Tihar festival.

Pokhrel, who is also a member of the government committee entrusted with the task to deal with the company, said talks were going well.

“We have formally invited the company for a final round of negotiation which will conclude the operation management fee and other services that the company will impart at the new airport,” Pokhrel told the Post.

Pokhrel said that the committee has also been working on launching an incentive package to attract international airlines at the new airport. “We will also discuss the incentive package with the company [Munich Airport]. If the company is appointed for the operation of management services, we have to jointly launch the package.”

Giving monetary incentives is not uncommon in many newly developed airports globally. According to a  Malaysian news report, a Malaysian airport had given cash incentives to airlines that continue to bring in additional passenger traffic to the country.

The report says that even Singapore’s Changi Airport does it, with the size of the monetary award in proportion to the number of passengers brought in.

Pokhrel did not divulge the incentive package they have been mulling—cash or free landing parking and other services—but some officials at the Tourism Ministry said a cash incentive would be more effective. “We have not decided on the incentive package but there are several modalities which will be discussed.”

In June, the Cabinet gave the Tourism Ministry approval to appoint international firms for the operational readiness and airport transfer (ORAT) operation of the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa through a government to government deal with following a proposal from Munich Airport including other international firms.

Munich Airport is the second busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt Airport, and the seventh busiest airport in Europe, handling 44.6 million passengers in 2017.

Located in south-central Nepal, the airport will be the gateway to the international pilgrimage destination of Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha. The airport will have a 3,000-metre-long and 45-metre-wide runway.

The much-delayed airport is expected to be completed by December-end and conduct test flights by March-end next year.

As only finishing the construction work will not assure operational readiness, ORAT will play a big role in helping the new facility open on time, according to the Tourism Ministry officials.

ORAT is the best way to ensure that every aspect of a new facility functions flawlessly right from day one. ORAT consultants work with airport stakeholders to formulate new processes, train staff, and test every single new system and procedure from passenger and baggage handling to airside operations.

The government is under heavy pressure to improve the efficiency of the sole international airport in Kathmandu that is managed by the Civil Aviation Authority. It plans to test how efficiently Munich Airport will operate the new airport.

Government officials said a timely inauguration of the airport would give a boost to the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign when the country expects to host 2 million tourists.

Construction work at Gautam Buddha International Airport began in January 2015. The Civil Aviation Authority awarded the Rs6.22-billion contract to China’s Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group in November 2013. The airport was initially slated to be ready in December 2017. The project suffered multiple hurdles that pushed back the completion deadline several times.

Source: Kathmandu Post

KATHMANDU: China’s mountaineering authority today issued a special climbing permit to Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja allowing him to scale Mt Shishapangma, this season.

The former UK’s special forces member Purja, who climbed Mt Manaslu as his 13th eight-thousander last month, is all set to head for Tibet to make his final attempt on Mt Shishapangma in a day or two after China Tibet Mountaineering Association issued a special climbing permit for the 8,027-metre peak in Tibet.

FILE – Nirmal Purja, a former UK’s Special Forces Member is in a mission to complete all 14 peaks above 8,000 m in just seven months.

Purja aims to climb Mt Shishapangma by this November to complete all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters in just seven months.

“The team ‘Project Possible’ has finally obtained a climbing permit for Mt Shishapangma,” Purja, who has already scaled 13 peaks above 8,000 meters in just over five months, setting multiple world records in the history of mountain climbing, confirmed. “I will leave for Tibet with my team members in a couple of days,” he told THT.

Renowned climber Mingma David Sherpa, Gesman Tamang, Gyalzen Sherpa, Temba Sherpa, Jangbu Sherpa, and Mingma Sherpa will also accompany Purja on Mt Shishapangma. Mingma David is also on his bid to complete all 14 peaks above 8,000 m by climbing Shishapangma this season.

READ MORE: China to allow Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja to climb Shishapangma

“We are a strong team and we are very confident to complete this mission,” Purja said, thanking all including CTMA, Tibet Mountaineering Association, and government agencies among others for their support and timely cooperation. “I would like to thank the government of Nepal for approaching China on my behalf for this project and I would also like to thank the government of China for considering my application and allowing me to climb Shishapangma this year.”

Last month, Purja had made it to the top of Mt Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest peak, completing his 13th eight-thousander in just 158 days.

The former UK’s Special Forces member began his ‘Project Possible’ in April to complete all 14 peaks by November. If he succeeds in scaling Mt Shishapangma, he will conquer all 14 peaks in just six months. “Now, I want to complete it in six months,” Purja said.

The current records for such an attempt are seven years, 10 months and six days by Korean climber Kim Chang-ho in 2013 and seven years, 11 months and 14 days by Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka in 1987.

Purja was the first Gurkha to join the elite Special Boat Service and already has multiple world records for speed climbing to his name.

Mountaineering world believes that Purja’s project is one of a kind that will test human endurance to its limit. Purja has pushed the limits of human potential in mountaineering, according to the expedition operators.