Gautam Buddha Airport

Gautam Buddha Airport (IATA: BWA, ICAO: VNBW), also known as Bhairahawa Airport, is a domestic airport located in Siddharthanagar (formerly and colloquially still called Bhairahawa)[2] serving the Butwal﹣Bhairahawa urban agglomeration, as well as Lumbini in Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is currently being upgraded to serve international flights, and operations are planned to begin in March 2021.[3][4] The airport will become Nepal's second international airport. There are plans to make the airport fully solar powered, making it after Cochin International Airport only the second airport worldwide to do so.[5]

Gautam Buddha Airport

गौतम बुद्ध विमानस्थल
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of Nepal
OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of Nepal
ServesSiddharthanagar and Butwal, Nepal
Elevation AMSL358 ft / 109 m
Coordinates27°30′20″N 083°24′58″E
Map
Gautam Buddha Airport
Location of airport in Nepal
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
10/28 3,000 9,843 Asphalt
Source: DAFIF[1][2]

History

The airport was opened as a domestic airport called Bhairahawa Airport providing flights to Kathmandu in 1958 and has since been operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.[6] In 1985, the airport was one of the targets of the Nepal Bombings.[7][8] In 1977, the airport was renamed to be called Gautam Buddha Airport in honor of Gautam Buddha, who was born in neighboring village Lumbini.[9]

Expansion to an International Airport
Plan of international terminal

Phase 1

In 2015, construction began to turn the airport into Nepal's second international airport in order to relieve the congested Tribhuvan International Airport.[10] It is planned to have a 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) runway and sixteen international parking bays.[11] The project is financed by a loan and grant aid from the Asian Development Bank. The contract to upgrade the airport was awarded to the Chinese company Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group in October 2014.[12] The construction of the airport was set to be completed by the end of 2017 but the process was delayed for more than six months and the deadline of the completion was extended to 2019 due to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2015 Nepal blockade.[13] In July 2019, the project's deadline was extended and the expansion was expected to be completed by December 2019.[14] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, the opening of the airport was postponed again in July 2020 to March 2021.[15]

Phase 2

Soon after upgradation of Phase 1 of the upgradation, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has announced to built a new international terminal for the airport. The current terminal will be used as domestic terminal after Phase 2 is completed. Minister Yogesh Bhattarai sought suggestions on different designs for terminals of Gautam Buddha International Airport through social media.[16] The terminal will have Sky-bridges, which the current terminal is lacking.

Facilities

The airport is at an elevation of 358 feet (109 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 10/28 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,000 by 45 metres (9,843 ft × 148 ft).[1]

Airlines and destinations
Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500 at Gautam Buddha Airport
AirlinesDestinationsRefs.
Buddha Air Kathmandu, Pokhara[17][18]
Nepal AirlinesKathmandu[19]
Saurya Airlines Kathmandu[20]
Shree Airlines Kathmandu[21]
Simrik Airlines Kathmandu[22]
Yeti Airlines Kathmandu, Pokhara[23]

Access

The airport is located near Feeder Road 45.

Ground transportation

Upon the airports upgradation in 2021, a system of electric busses will serve Gautam Buddha Airport.[24]

Incidents and accidents

References
  1. Airport information for VNBW from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
  2. Airport information for Bhairawa, Nepal - Gautam Buddha Airport (VNBW / BWA) at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  3. "Tourism Ministry drops plan to name Munich Airport as operator of Bhairahawa airport". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  4. BD, Dipen (6 December 2019). "Gautam Buddha International Airport Due to Open Near Lumbini, Nepal, in Mid-2020". buddhistdoor. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  5. "Plan for airport in Bhairahawa to be fully solar powered gains momentum". Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  6. "Gautam Buddha Airport" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  7. webindia123. Indian freedom fighters behind Nepal revolution?
  8. Dangol, Sanu Bhai. The Palace in Nepalese Politics: With Special Reference to the Politics of 1951 to 1990. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1999. pp. 128-129
  9. "Bringing travellers to the birth place of Lord Buddha". Nepal Traveller. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  10. "Bhairahawa airport is nearing completion, but no foreign airline has applied to serve it". The Kathmandu Post. Kantipur Media Group. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  11. "Gautam Buddha Airport to have 16 parking bays". The Kathmandu Post. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  12. "Gautam Buddha Airport Project: 2nd package of project to start in Feb". The Kathmandu Post. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  13. "Gautam Buddha Int'l Airport project becoming progressive". Aviation Nepal. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  14. "GBIA deadline extended till December". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  15. Gautam, Santosh (3 July 2020). "The operation of Bhairahawa Airport has been postponed for one year". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  16. Republica. "Aviation minister seeks suggestions for terminal designs of Gautam Buddha Airport". My Republica. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  17. "Flights from Kathmandu to Bhairahawa". Buddha Air. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  18. "Flights from Pokhara to Bhairahawa". Buddha Air. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  19. "Domestic Schedule". Nepal Airlines. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  20. "Bhairahawa". Saurya Airlines. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  21. "Bahirahawa". Shree Airlines. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  22. "Fly directly from Pokhara to Lumbini - Nepflights". Nepflights.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  23. "Scheduled Flights". Yeti Airlines. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  24. "Sajha's electric buses gather dust for the want of charging stations". Online Khabar. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  25. "Aviation Safety Network". Retrieved 18 November 2006.
  26. "Pilot killed". The Straights Times. 8 August 1995.
  27. "Yeti Airlines 9N-AIB Escaped from an accident". Aviation Nepal. 24 September 2016.
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