The works at Resunga Airport currently under construction in Resunga Municipality-10, Simichaur of Gulmi District has reached the final stage. The construction works of the airport, which started 15 years ago, has reached the final stage, according to Assistant Chief Engineer Dinesh Pariyar.
Engineer Pariyar has informed that the foundation stone of the airport was laid by the then Tourism Minister Pradip Kumar Gyawali in 2063 BS. ”We are working on a test flight within this month,” he added. ”We are in the final stages of working on the airport.” He said that all the construction work will be completed in the next few days and a test flight will be conducted within the month of Baishakh. He claimed that the test flight would take place by the end of April.
A Tara Air flight had made a crude flight at the airport on June 9, 2075. The work of different stages at the airport was being done by different construction companies. The control tower with the terminal building has been constructed by Bokoi Shrestha Construction JV through the Department of Aerodrome Engineering, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
The terminal building and control tower of the airport have been constructed at a cost of around Rs 45 million. Similarly, the work relating to blacktopping of the runway has also been completed. The runway is 520 meters long and 20 meters wide.
Rautaha Harihari JV has done the blacktopping of the runway. The airport has spent Rs. 72.5 million for the blacktopping of the runway. According to the office the works could not be completed on time due to Covid – 19, delay in supplying construction materials and negligence of the construction companye itself.
A total of 79 ropanis of land was acquired for the airport that spread over an area of 156 ropanis. The total cost of the project including land acquisition, laying down of foundation stone, wall construction, sewerage construciton, as well as construction of runway and airport terminal has been estimated at Rs. Rs. 350 million, according to Engineer Pariyar.
Meanwhile the new 3,000-metre runway in Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa will be brought into operation from April 21.
Until now, the 1,500-metre runaway was operative in the second international airport. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale recently instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to operate the new runway at the earliest.
The Minister also instructed the authorities to make arrangements to run the airport round-the-clock, informed CAAN director-general Pradeep Kumar Adhikari. The Airport will operate international flights from May 16, coinciding with Buddha Purnima, according to Adhikari.