A domestic airport in Kavre: A flight of fancy or need of the hour?

A preliminary survey estimates the airport, with a tabletop runway of 1,200 metres, will cost Rs 16 billion. Aviation experts say an airport near Kathmandu was needed a decade ago, not now.

Nepali politicians are quite given to flights of fancy. Building airports in their constituencies, hence, is their oft-repeated promises, especially during election campaigns. As a result, most of the airports are carved out of a mountain, without any study whether it is technically or financially feasible, which eventually turns into pastures, aviation experts say.