India must give Nepal new aerial routes: Oli

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli says he raised the issue of aerial routes with his India counterpart during their meeting in New Delhi few weeks ago.

Oli, who was addressing lawmakers from Province 5 in Butwal, assured his audience that his government will secure a deal with India to allow international flights to and from the soon-to-be ready Gautam Buddha International Airport.

“India has only given us one aerial route. The only option we have for international flights is to use the Birgunj-Simara route,” said Oli adding,”India must give us additional routes. I raised the issue during my recent visit to India.”

“We will claim the new route to Bhairahawa and the airport will come into operation,” the Prime Minister said.

His statement comes as construction work gathers pace at Pokhara and Bhairahawa where two new regional international airports are being built. According to aviation experts, new aerial routes must be opened for land-locked Nepal to make the operation of the airports viable.