India has agreed to allow inbound flights to use the L626 route that enters Nepal from the west over Mahendranagar, but only for aircraft flying at an altitude of 15,000 to 24,000 ft, which experts say is too low for jets.
According to officials, the southern neighbour had already approved this air entry route in 2018 for low-level flights, and further examinations were slated to be made by September the same year.
So the assurance given on Thursday during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's visit to India is only a reiteration of what was agreed five years ago, they say.
“We discussed an additional air entry route. Nepal welcomes India's positive indication of air entry routes for bilateral flights. It is operationally feasible for ATR-type aircraft,” Dahal told a press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
The prime minister indicated that he was positive India would consider opening air entry points to facilitate international flights, particularly those coming over western Nepal to the two new international airports in Bhairahawa and Pokhara.
“We request the approval of a high-altitude additional air entry route from Mahendranagar at an early date,” Dahal told the press conference.
Nepali experts are unhappy and say India lied to Nepal.
“India had already approved this route. It is not operationally feasible for jets to fly so low,” said Sanjiv Gautam, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. “It is only good for Buddha Air if it wishes to serve New Delhi, not other airlines.”
He says flying below 28,000 ft is not feasible because of the operational cost. The thinner air at high altitudes offers less resistance, allowing planes to burn less fuel. “Thus, it is more efficient to fly at high altitudes,” said Gautam.
“The meeting between the two prime ministers, a conference at the highest level, was a lost opportunity for Nepal as it did not yield the outcome expected for more than a decade,”
But there was one breakthrough, he said.
Prime Minister Dahal said that India had agreed to a “near-border operation” agreement.
This means that in the event of a weather problem, aircraft can encroach on each other's airspace if an airport is close by. Two bordering countries normally sign such near-border operation agreements for their convenience.
According to Gautam, it will allow aircraft to use Indian airspace while landing at and taking off from Bhairahawa airport, besides making the instrument landing system (ILS) there operational, which currently is not workable.
The ILS is a precision runway approach aid which provides pilots with both vertical and horizontal guidance during the landing approach.
“We appreciate India's approval for near-border flight operations at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa,” the prime minister said. “We would like to have flights from Nepal's newly built international airports to various cities in India.”
But there is a geopolitical factor. “If the matter cannot be sorted out by the prime ministers of the two countries, forget about the routes. India will not give them to Nepal,” said a retired air traffic controller who wished not to be named.
Some officials say that these two airports have become victims of geopolitics as Pokhara airport was built with Chinese money and Bhairahawa airport was built by a Chinese firm.
02/06/2023 Sangam Prasain/Kathmandu Post
