Upgrading Gautam Buddha Airport (GBA) at Lumbini, which the government plans to develop into a regional international airport, will cost more than double what the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had earlier assessed, according to the latest detailed study commissioned by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal(CAAN).China’s Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group has bagged the contract to upgrade Gautam Buddha Airport in Bhairahawa into a regional international airport. The aggregate cost of the project as set by its executing agency the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) is Rs 6.30 billion. The planned airport will have a 3,000-metre runway and have a capacity to serve 760,000 passengers annually after the completion of its first phase.According to Bhandari, GBA will have a new control tower, a customs and cargo building, a crash fire building and other facilities after its upgradation. The first phase upgradation also includes construction of an exit taxiway with flexible pavement, a new international aircraft parking apron with rigid pavement, construction of a periphery road, and rehabilitation of the existing runway for conversion into a parallel taxiway with flexible pavement. Similarly, improvement of the water supply, sewerage and drainage, diversion of the Ghanghra River, and construction of the airport boundary and security chain link fencing are also part of the upgradation plan. CAAN has targeted completion of the last phase upgradation of the airport by 2030. After that, the airport will be able to handle up to six million passengers annually.
