Bhairahawa and Pokhara International Airports: Now that we have them, what do we do with them?
Just to be clear. The new Pokhara Regional International Airport, whatever that means, should never have been built. An eight lane Express-way replete with tunnels et al, linking Pokhara to the newly built Bhairahawa International Airport would have served everyone, including the Nepali economy, much better. That the Chinese stuffed this project down the Government of Nepal’s throat is no secret and much will be said and written about that modus operandi well into the future. Which brings us to Bhairahawa International. That the Asian Development Bank approved loans based on assumptions about concessions that India would make to show their neighborliness is going to be taught in classrooms for a long time. So, now that we have them, what do we do with them? Two spanking new airports and no international flights to anywhere. One could say, “Let’s go look at the business plans again”. But I think if these existed someone would have dusted them off and taken a look by now. Or we could