Gautam Buddha Airport

Gautam Buddha International Airport (IATA: BWA, ICAO: VNBW), also known as Bhairahawa Airport, is an international airport located in Siddharthanagar (formerly and colloquially still called Bhairahawa)[3] serving Lumbini in Lumbini Province, as well as the Butwal﹣Siddharthanagar urban agglomeration in Nepal. Since May 2022, it is Nepal's second international airport, after previously only handling domestic services.[4][5]

Gautam Buddha International Airport[1]
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of Nepal
OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of Nepal
ServesLumbini Province, Nepal
LocationSiddharthanagar
Opened8 July 1958
Elevation AMSL344 ft / 105 m
Coordinates27°30′20″N 083°24′58″E
Websitegbia.caanepal.gov.np
Map
BWA is located in Lumbini Province
BWA
BWA
Location in Nepal
BWA is located in Nepal
BWA
BWA
BWA (Nepal)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
10/28 3,000 9,843 Asphalt concrete
Statistics
Land Area543.78 ha
Source: DAFIF[2][3]

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 Gautam Buddha Airport in honor of Gautam Buddha, who was born in the neighboring village of Lumbini.[9]

Expansion to international airport

First plans to develop the then domestic airport into Nepal's second international airport were developed in 2013 with the aim of operating the upgraded airport by 2017,[10] in order to relieve the congested Tribhuvan International Airport.[11]

The project was 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]

In January 2015, prime minister Sushil Koirala laid the foundation stone of the new airport with the aim of beginning operations at the airport by December 2017.[13] It was planned to have a 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) runway and sixteen international parking bays.[14] In 2017, the upgrade was delayed for more than six months and the deadline for the completion was extended to 2019 due to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2015 Nepal blockade.[15] In July 2019, the project's deadline was extended and the expansion was expected to be completed by December 2019.[16] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, the opening of the airport was postponed again in July 2020 to March 2021.[17] In June 2021, the opening was again postponed until early 2022, as final tests could not take place during monsoon season.[18]

In late 2021, the calibration flights were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, resulting in further postponement of the opening of the airport.[19] These flights took place in February 2022.[20]

On 30 January 2022, the official opening date was set to Buddha Jayanti on 26 May 2022.[21][22]

In March 2022, it was announced that Jazeera Airways would be the first international airline to serve the airport.[23]

On 21 April 2022, the newly built 3,000 m runway was opened while the old one was put into use as a taxiway.[24]

The airport was officially opened with the arrival of the first international flight by Jazeera Airways on 16 May 2022.[25]

As of November 2022, only one international carrier served the airport. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) forced any airline operating more than three flights a day from Nepal's other international airport, Tribhuvan International Airport to also operate from Gautam Buddha Airport.[26][27] This sparked a controversy, as CAAN canceled flights by Nepal Airlines as the airline did not comply with this ruling.[28]

By the end of 2022, there were no international flights, as all carriers suspended their services due to the low visibility due to the winter weather.[29]

Facilities


Runway

The airport has one runway designated 10/28 with an Asphalt concrete (Bituminous Paved) surface measuring 3,000 by 45 metres (9,843 ft × 148 ft).[30] It has an east-west orientation with a designation of 10/28 and a 200 meters Runway End Safety Area (RESA) on both side. It features a 1,500-meter x 23 meters parallel taxiway (10-28) used previously for the domestic airplanes.[31]

Aids to Landing and Navigation

Advanced navigational aids and airport lighting for safety and navigation is installed. There are two non-precision approach available at the Gautam Buddha Airport; VHF omnidirectional range along a distance measuring equipment (DVOR/DME) and Required Area Navigation (RNAV/RNP). A non-directional (radio) beacon (NDB) is installed at the northern side of the airport.[32] One Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcasting (ADS-B) Sensor has been installed by CAAN at Bhairahawa to extend the surveillance coverage within the local airspace. There is an instrument landing system available to allow aircraft landing even in reduced visibility.[33] The airport also possesses a visual guidance system which gives visual information to the pilot attempting to park the aircraft at the airport parking bay.[34]

ILS at the airport is installed but not functional as Indian Skies will be used to fully implement it and that India hasn't provided approval yet.[35]

Terminals
Plan of international terminal

The airport consists of two public terminals at the airport, one for international traffic and one for domestic traffic. During the upgrade to an international airport, but before the opening of it, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation announced to build a new 35,000m² international terminal for the airport. The current terminal would be used as domestic terminal afterwards.[36] The Government of Nepal sought suggestions on different designs for terminals of Gautam Buddha International Airport through social media.[37] The new terminal would have 4 Sky-bridges, which the current terminal is lacking.[34]

Airlines and destinations
Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500 at Gautam Buddha Airport
AirlinesDestinations
Buddha Air Bharatpur,[38] Kathmandu, Pokhara[39][40]
Guna Airlines Kathmandu,[41] Pokhara[42]
Jazeera Airways Kuwait City[43]
Nepal Airlines Kathmandu
Seasonal: Kuala Lumpur–International[44]
Saurya Airlines Kathmandu[45]
Shree Airlines Kathmandu[46]
Yeti Airlines Kathmandu, Pokhara[47]

Statistics
Annual passenger traffic at BWA airport. See Wikidata query.

Access
View of Gautam Buddha International Airport from north western side

The airport is located near Feeder Road 44, which was enlarged in 2018 to ease access to the airport.[48]

Ground transportation

As of 2020 it is planned that a system of electric buses will serve Gautam Buddha Airport.[49]

Sustainability

Ground vehicles used here will be fully electric.[50] Currently there are nine fast charging stations installed in this airport.[51][52] There are plans to make the airport fully solar powered, only the second airport worldwide to do so.[53][54]

Incidents and accidents

References
  1. "Gautam Buddha International Airport". Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
  2. Airport information for VNBW from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
  3. Airport information for Bhairawa, Nepal - Gautam Buddha International Airport (VNBW / BWA) at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  4. Prasain, Sangam (15 July 2020). "Tourism Ministry drops plan to name Munich Airport as operator of Bhairahawa airport". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  5. BD, Dipen (6 December 2019). "Gautam Buddha International Airport Due to Open Near Lumbini, Nepal, in Mid-2020". buddhistdoor. Retrieved 4 March 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. Mandal, Rina Kumar (27 September 2020). "Bringing travellers to the birth place of Lord Buddha". Nepal Traveller. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  10. Prasain, Sangam (1 December 2013). "Govt plans to complete upgradation of Gautam Buddha airport by 2017". The Kathmandu Post.
  11. Prasain, Sangam (28 November 2019). "Bhairahawa airport is nearing completion, but no foreign airline has applied to serve it". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  12. "Gautam Buddha Airport Project: 2nd package of project to start in Feb". The Kathmandu Post. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  13. Dhungana, Madhav (16 January 2015). "Gautam Buddha Airport expansion plan launched". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  14. "Gautam Buddha Airport to have 16 parking bays". The Kathmandu Post. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  15. Anurup, Pathak (16 February 2018). "Gautam Buddha Int'l Airport project becoming progressive". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  16. "GBIA deadline extended till December". The Himalayan Times. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  17. Gautam, Santosh (3 July 2020). "The operation of Bhairahawa Airport has been postponed for one year". Aviation Nepal. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  18. Prasain, Sangam (12 June 2021). "Monsoon holds up finishing touches at Bhairahawa international airport". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  19. Prasain, Sangam (20 November 2021). "Testing of equipment at Bhairahawa airport to start soon". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  20. "Gautam Buddha International Airport starts Calibration flights". Nepal News. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  21. "Gautam Buddha International Airport brought into operation". The Himalayan Times. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  22. Bhandari, Minraj (30 January 2022). "Gautam Buddha Airport to be operational from May 26". Republica. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  23. "Nepal's second international airport to start flights on May 16; Kuwait the first destination". Onlinekhabar. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
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  25. Prasain, Sangam (17 May 2022). "Bhairahawa goes wow as second international airport opens". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  26. Prasain, Sangam (31 October 2022). "Aviation regulator pressuring airlines to link Bhairahawa". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  27. "Airlines must operate international chartered flights from GBIA". The Himalayan Times. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  28. "New Delhi-bound Nepal Airlines flight from Kathmandu cancelled at last minute, leaving 254 stranded". The Economic Times. November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  29. Sherpa, Sangay (5 January 2023). "Suspension of flights from GBIA hits businesses". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  30. "Blacktopping Of Gautam Buddha International Airport'S Runway Begins". Online Kathmandu. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  31. Today, N. L. (21 April 2022). "Runway at Gautam Buddha International Airport comes into operation". Nepal Live Today. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  32. "BHW @ OurAirports". ourairports.com. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  33. "ILS being installed at Gautam Buddha International Airport | NepaleKhabar.com". nepaleKhabar. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  34. ADB (2020). Nepal: South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Airport Capacity Enhancement Project
  35. "Failure to use ILS obstructs flight operations at GBIA - The Annapurna Express". 9 January 2023. Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  36. Singh, Bikrant Kumar (31 March 2019). "Nepal seeks bids for international terminal at Gautam Buddha airport". Airport Technology. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  37. Republica (22 September 2020). "Aviation minister seeks suggestions for terminal designs of Gautam Buddha Airport". My Republica. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  38. "Bharatpur-Bhairahawa direct flights from August 15 - OnlineKhabar English News". 3 August 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
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  40. "Flights from Pokhara to Bhairahawa". Buddha Air. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  41. "Guna Airlines launches flights to Bhairahawa". Guna Airlines. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  42. diwakar (24 November 2021). "Guna Airlines starts flights to Bharatpur, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj from Pokhara - OnlineKhabar English News". Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  43. "Jazeera Airlines resumes its flights from GBIA". República. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  44. "Nepal Airlines announces Kuala Lumpur-Bhairahawa flight". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  45. "Bhairahawa". Saurya Airlines. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  46. "Bahirahawa". Shree Airlines. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  47. "Scheduled Flights". Yeti Airlines. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  48. Pokharel, Laxman. "Infrastructure changing the face of Lumbini". The Annapurna Express. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  49. "Sajha's electric buses gather dust for the want of charging stations". Online Khabar. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  50. "Electric vehicles come into operation in Lumbini". GorakhaPatra. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  51. "Nepal's first electric vehicle charging station opens". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  52. "Under the project of Clean Energy Project, the station and the solar plant that powers the station has been constructed". nepaltraveller.com. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  53. Prasain, Sangam (28 November 2020). "Plan for airport in Bhairahawa to be fully solar powered gains momentum". Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  54. "Bhairahawa airport's plan to go solar is feasible, say officials » Borneo Bulletin Online". Bhairahawa airport's plan to go solar is feasible, say officials. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
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  56. "Pilot killed". The Straits Times. 8 August 1995.
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