A $28-million runway rehabilitation project at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is expected to move ahead after languishing in limbo for months.

TIA’s 3,050-metre-long aged runway has suffered frequent damage, forcing authorities to declare the airport out of bounds for heavy jets. The project, which has been at a standstill since March, will resurface the runway pavement.

Sanjiv Gautam, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan), said a proposal to allow the project to invite prequalified bidders to submit financial proposals would be tabled at the board for its approval by mid-December.

Last March, the project prequalified four firms following the completion of their technical evaluation.

The prequalified companies are China National Aero Technology International Engineering Corporation, China Harbor Engineering, Beijing Changdao Municipal Engineering Group and

a Nepali-Chinese JV consisting of China Railway No 5 Engineering Group and Swachchhanda Nirman Sewa. However, the project was bogged down by problems. It was further delayed by a dispute that arose after Tourism Minister Jitendra Narayan Dev unsuccessfully tried to remove Caan’s chief Gautam from his post.

“We have planned to approve the project’s proposal as soon as the minister returns from his foreign trip,” said Gautam. Although the Caan chief has the authority to approve the proposal directly, it needs be approved at the upper level because of its high cost, according to project officials. 

The project had planned to award the construction contract in September. For the last five years, TIA has been forbidding aircraft weighing more than 196 tonnes to land on its tattered runway to prevent further damage. The old runway has been affecting smooth operation of aircraft due to repeated occurrences of cracks in the pavement.

According to the project, milling machines will be used to remove the pavement to rehabilitate the runway. The design was prepared in 2014, but the project decided to review it after the earthquake of April 2015.

According to TIA, the airport will have to be shut down from 12 midnight to 6 am daily to carry out the runway rehabilitation works.

The project said that the contractor would be given a year’s time to make preparations. The company will be required to have all its logistics in place before it is allowed on the runway.

According to officials, extensive planning is needed because there are many reasons that could lead to delays. The contractor should have twice the amount of materials and equipment required. Considering all these requirements and preparations, on-ground work has been targeted to begin after the monsoon in 2018.

Caan will dip into the Airport Development Fund (ADF) to finance the project. Since July 2014, Caan has been collecting an extra Rs1,000 in airport development tax from each passenger departing on international flights from TIA.

The money will be spent on projects to improve facilities at TIA.

A study conducted by Caan in 2014 had concluded that the runway at TIA was not strong enough to handle wide body jets due to its ageing asphalt foundation, and distress is caused to the upper surface instantly when heavy planes land on it. Repeated occurrences of cracks on the runway have been affecting smooth operation of aircraft since 2011.