The government has allocated Rs4.15 billion to develop Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) into a boutique international airport to manage growing passenger traffic, Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel announced during his budget presentation for fiscal year 2025-26.

The plan to transform TIA into a boutique airport—designed to reflect Nepal’s unique cultural and architectural heritage—was first introduced in the government's policy document in 2019 and presented by then-President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Parliament.

The boutique airport concept had begun taking shape in late 2018 under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Originally built with support from the Asian Development Bank and completed in 1989, TIA was designed by German and Japanese engineers who were inspired by the terrace farming style of the Kathmandu Valley.

The budget also includes plans to make domestic flights safer and more accessible. The Pokhara International Airport will be developed as a tourism hub, while Gautam Buddha International Airport will be equipped to serve tourists and migrant workers with affordable services, said the minister.