Nepal’s second international airport, inaugurated in the country’s south in May 2022, has seen no international flights for a year and a half now.

Locals, businesses, and hoteliers had high hopes for the Gautam Buddha International Airport, the gateway to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, to transform the economic landscape of the province.

With no flights coming in anytime soon, they have again appealed to the federal government to prepare a workable strategy to operate it.

A government official at the National Statistics Office recently told the Post that Lumbini Province suffered a recession this year, with most shops shuttered due to low business activity.

On Monday, the private sector representatives of Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, and Nawalparasi West appealed to the members of parliament to sketch a business plan to operate the airport and revive Lumbini's economy.

Members of a subcommittee formed by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee to probe the alleged irregularities while constructing the airport are inspecting it.

At an interaction on Monday, local stakeholders and private sector representatives said that the airport inaugurated more than two years ago saw a few flights until the end of 2022 but no airline served it again.

The participants said that with the airport, built at an investment of nearly Rs40 billion, remaining quiet, billions of private sector investment is at risk.

For a long time, the private sector has clamoured for international flights.

Industry entrepreneurs, traders, people’s representatives, and civil society leaders demanded the government do something about it.

“The government should realise that there are areas outside Kathmandu also that need its attention,” said Thakur Kumar Shrestha, president of the Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He questioned the subcommittee’s intent.

“If they [parliamentary members] have come here aiming to operate the airport, there is a need for a policy-level decision to make the new airport viable.”

Yogesh Bhattarai, coordinator of the subcommittee, and eight members of the Public Accounts Committee reached the airport for inspection.

During the discussion, the lawmakers admitted the government's lapses and lack of seriousness about operating the new airport, which has pushed private investments to the brink.

“We have been in serious trouble,” Shrestha said.

“The government has not even discussed the new airport with ambassadors from various countries. Besides, people have to visit Kathmandu to get labour permits. If all works are performed from the Capital, how can the new airport operate,” Shrestha said.

Chandra Prakash Shrestha, president of the Siddhartha Hotel Association, said that the government has already spent more than Rs40 billion for the construction of the airport.

The private sector has already invested Rs80 billion in hotels and restaurants, hoping that the airport's operation will increase the number of tourists.

“The entrepreneurs who took loans from banks are in trouble. The situation is getting worse day by day,” Shrestha said. “Despite the pressure from the private sector for a long time, the government has done nothing.”

Shrestha said that to start international flights, the Kathmandu-centric activities need to be decentralised. “We are pressuring it continuously, but the government does not listen.”

Bishnu Paudel, former finance minister, said resuming international flights from Bhairahawa was missing from the government's agenda.

“It is off the government’s working list to operate the airport. That is why there are no flights.”

Paudel said the government has not invited international airlines to fly from the airport. “If the airport does not come into operation, it will feed a bad development narrative.”

Paudel said the airport needs to be operated at full capacity in an organised way. Essential preparations should have started as soon as construction began, but it is already too late now.

Bhattarai said that tourism entrepreneurs, industry entrepreneurs, and civil society feel that the airport needs to be operational without further delay.

“We have collected the feedback, and the subcommittee will suggest that the government create a conducive environment for international flights.”

“We are taking information regarding the investment, its need and design and construction, including the government’s investment and operation plan,” Bhattarai said.

On Monday morning, the subcommittee discussed the matter with the chief of airport management, immigration, customs, and airport security agency.

“We have asked the airport management many questions. Some have been answered, some have not,” said Bhattarai.