Tikapur Airport sees first flight in 27 years

KATHMANDU: Tikapur Airport of Kaiali, which shut down in 1997, resumed operations on Sunday. A Twin Otter aircraft of Tara Air landed at the airstrip at 1:44 p.m. with 15 passengers and three crew members.

Tikapur Municipality Mor Ramlal Dagaura and President of Tikapur Chamber of Commerce and Industries Krishna Bajagain, among others, welcomed the passengers. Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Arun Kumar Chaudhary was also among the passengers.

According to Mayor Dagaura, Yeti Air will operate scheduled flight on Kathmandu-Tikapur route. Yeti Airline’s ATR-72 aircraft will first take passengers from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj. From there, a connecting flight of Tara Air will take passengers to Tikapur, Dagaura said.

Tikapur Municipality has guaranteed revenue of 15 seats for the airline. The one-way fare has been fixed at Rs 9,000.