No flight at Kotwada airport despite test flight

Three years since the Kotwada airport at Narharinath rural municipality-1 in Kalikot saw the test flight, the runway here has not recorded any other airplanes landing and taking off.

The test flight was conducted on February 11, 2017. The airport was built in 2042 BS during the panchayat (single-party) reign.

The test flight was conducted during the tenure of then Minister for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Jivan Bahadur Shahi which had elated the locals for the airport was the easiest mode of transportation for the locality. "The Airport saw test flight back then. There has been no physical infrastructure such as upgradation of runway, repeater tower and other buildings among others were built at the airport afterwards nor any other aircrafts have flown since then," bemoaned local Ganesh Bahadur Bista.

Narharinath rural municipality chair Dhir Bahadur Bista viewed that if the airport had been operative, it would further boost the local tourism here. He shared that tourist destination in Kalikot district such as Ramaroshan, Tribeni Patan Badimalika would be further promoted once the airport was functional.

Narharinath rural municipality is not linked with roadways. It takes one day to reach the nearest road network, according to him. Rural municipality’s local leader Birendra Bahadur Buda ranted that each political leaders had made the airport here their voting campaign but they soon forget it.

He further angrily said, "The airport continues to become a slogan since the panchayat era to multiparty system and current federal republic governance system."