Ghost airports: Lessons for Nepal

Out of 55 airports in Nepal, 19 are not in operation, and only a handful are self-sustaining.

There are many instances around the world where an airport bites the dust and the big hunks of concrete take a ghostly turn. Airports are strategic infrastructures that are capital-intensive, technology-oriented and often cover a huge land area. They require constant adaptation to provide enough functional, safe and affordable services for airlines and passengers. If not, they would not be able to realise the traffic they hoped for. Subsequently, they can turn into facilities that may be fully operational but devoid of any passengers or traffic. In the worst case scenario they turn into so-called ghost airports.