A new domestic terminal with improved and advanced facilities has come into operation at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). The disabled-friendly building stands 30 metres to the west of the existing terminal.

The construction of the Rs119.8-million facility was delayed by more than two years. The annex domestic terminal was inaugurated by Tourism Minister Ananda Prasad Pokhrel on Wednesday. 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) had moved to improve the facilities after endless complaints from travellers about the dilapidated domestic terminal. Passengers and airlines too have been complaining that they are not getting their money’s worth for the airport taxes they are paying. 

The terminal building and the road and parking lot are spread over 6,300 square metres. The area of the building only is 2,200 square metres. The old terminal which was designed to handle 384 passengers per hour had been expanded and renovated in 1995.

The new airport building is a temporary facility and provides twice the facilities available at the old terminal, according to Caan officials.

The terminal has office space for 15 domestic airlines. The building has set aside 289 square metres for airline offices, 282 square metres for restaurants and 58 square metres for restrooms.

Caan has been implementing the first phase of TIA Master Plan 2026 with a loan and grant assistance from the Asian Development Bank.

Caan officials said that the new domestic terminal had been designed to serve until 2028. As per the master plan, the present international terminal will be used to handle domestic flights.

Nepal’s domestic air passenger movement continued to shrink for four straight years, dropping 5.96 percent in 2015, as a series of disasters struck the country denting travel demand.

According to TIA data, domestic carriers received 86,510 less flyers last year. These airlines carried 1.36 million passengers in 2015 against 1.45 million the year before.