Japan International Cooperation Agency [Wednesday, Aug 31, 2016]
Signing of Grant Agreement with Nepal: Providing aviation safety equipment at major airports to improve air transportation safety and efficiency
On August 31, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a grant agreement (G/A) with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Nepal to provide grant aid of up to 1.452 billion yen for assistance for the Project for Improvement of Aviation Safety Facilities in Major Airports .
The objective of this project is to provide aviation safety facilities and other equipment at eight major airports in Nepal, including Tribhuvan International Airport, the country’s only international airport, thereby improving guidance and landing safety for aircraft at their destination airports.
As approximately 75 percent of the land in Nepal is steep and mountainous, air routes are vital means for the transportation of people and goods. Due to inadequate aviation safety equipment, such as ground lights to indicate the runway location and radio system to assist with the approach to the airstrip, ensuring aviation safety is a priority at airports in Nepal. Surrounded by tall mountains, Tribhuvan International Airport is considered to be one of the most difficult airports in the world for landing and departure, and due to the inadequacy of aviation safety equipment, guidance precision is insufficient during aircraft landing, leading to the prioritized issue on improving landing safety. Two major regional airports, Chaurjahari and Dhangadhi Airports, have no aviation safety equipment, so safety during aircraft departures and landings is dependent on visual and other pilot skills. At other major airports in mountainous regions such as Jomsom, Jumla, Lukla, Simikot and Rara Airports, meteorological conditions can change rapidly, but those airports do not have a stable power supply or ground lights to indicate the location of the runway. In the 13th national development strategy plan, the Government of Nepal has made tourism industry development a priority, and ensuring aviation safety equipment at major domestic airports is a pressing priority for aviation safety.
This project will provide instrument landing system localizers for indicating the direction of approach and other aviation safety equipment at eight major airports in Nepal, including at Tribhuvan International Airport, making accurate aircraft approaches possible for 27,000 flights each year. VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) equipment and distance measuring equipment (DME) will also be provided to allow an increase in the number of domestic flights through high-precision flight techniques to destination airports. JICA has provided navigation control radar systems through the Tribhuvan International Airport Modernization Project (G/A signed at the end of 2013), a grant aid project, and is currently implementing the Project for the Development of a Spare Parts Management Center and En-route Radar Control Services, a technical cooperation project. Spare parts and other items required for this project will be logged and managed at a supply control center that supports personnel training for this project and strengthens operation, management and maintenance capacity. Through such cooperation, JICA will continue to provide support to improve airport safety in Nepal.
