Air service in Baitadi closed for month

KATHMANDU: The air service is closed for a month in Baitadi.

Although the Baitadi-Dhangadhi flight was started on December 31, it remains suspended since then. Summit Air operated the weekly flight on Friday.

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Baitadi’s senior officer Deepak Bhatta said the flights were operated regularly but they had to be suspended at present as there are no passengers.

“We have not been able to operate regular flights for a shortage of passengers. Passengers are not traveling by air due to bad weather,” he said, adding that preparations are made for regular flights after the weather starts improving.

The Summit Airplane has 18 seats and it is short of passengers. “Only five or six passengers come seeking air tickets on a daily basis. The flights can be operated if there are 14 or 15 passengers,” Bhatta explained.

The air services were started in Baitadi from 2035 BS. The airport shut since 2052 BS after the expansion of road connectivity in the hilly districts and people started traveling by road rather than air.

The then Maoist rebels had torched the airport tower and destroyed it in 2058 BS.