The reconstruction of Rajbiraj airport in south-eastern Nepal has been completed with an inaugural test flight operated by Buddha Air (U4, Kathmandu) tentatively scheduled for May 3, 2018, The Kathmandu Post has reported.
The airport was initially opened in 1959 but closed soon afterwards as flights proved financially unfeasible. Since then, the facility has fallen into disrepair eventually being reduced a grazing field. However, given pressing connectivity needs, the government of Nepal decided in 2016 to allocate NPR303 million rupees (USD2.85 million) for the airfield's reconstruction, initially scheduled to have been completed by November 2017.
At present, it is still unclear whether Buddha Air will launch scheduled flights out of the airport following the upcoming tests.
A border town with India, Rajbiraj is located some 75 kilometres away from an existing airport in Biratnagar, which sees a total of 63 weekly services to the capital Kathmandu and a further three weekly flights to Tumling Tar.
