Tribhuvan International Airport goes hightech

KATHMANDU: Tribhuvan International Airport civil aviation office signed a seven-year agreement with air transport IT specialist Sita to tackle check-in queues at the only international airport of the country.

“With the introduction of Sita’s common use platform AirportConnect open queues will be reduced and passenger flow through the airport will greatly improve because check in areas can be used more efficiently,” said director general of Civil Avia Ram Prasad Neupane.

With the constraints of available space and growth in number of international airlines and their frequency of flights, expansion of physical space and facilities was a must. “As an initiative, we have decided to provide Common User Terminal Equipment system, comprising Sita AirportConnect Open, Maestro LDCs and Bag Fast at the airport for easy passenger processing service to enable multiple airlines, service providers, to share physical check-in and boarding gate resources,” said general manager of Tribhuvan International Airport Ratish Chandra Lal Suman. “Long queues are consequences of the lack of airline common-use facilities at the airport.”

“We selected Sita after an extremely competitive international bidding ,” Suman said, adding that the upgradation is timely as Nepal posted a record over a half million air traffic this year. Sita AirportConnect Open will be implemented initially at 24 check-in counters, and later it will be expanded to 36.

According to Suman, the passenger numbers are expected to grow from now until April due to the peak tourism season. “There was a encouraging growth in air traffic last year when number of international airlines also increased,” he said, adding that international airlines need consistent passenger processing, reduced congestion and improved flow.

“AirportConnect Open will provide airport with flexibility to cope up with peaks in traffic during the busiest times of the year for tourism and trade,” Sita country director for India and subcontinent Maneesh Jaikrishna said.

Sita has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing and managing the system for seven years and act as an exclusive concessionaire for Cute service.

Himalayan