In 2015, construction began to turn the airport into Nepal's second international airport in order to relieve the congested Tribhuvan International Airport. It is planned to have a runway and sixteen international parking bays. The project is financed by a loan and grant aid from the Asian Development Bank. The contract to upgrade the airport was awarded to the Chinese company "Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group" in October 2014. The construction of the airport was set to be completed by the end of 2017 but the process was delayed for more than six months and the deadline of the completion was extended to 2019 due to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2015 Nepal blockade. In July 2019, the project's deadline was extended and the expansion was expected to be completed by December 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, the opening of the airport was postponed again in July 2020 to March 2021. In June 2021, the opening was again postponed until early 2022, as final test could not take place during monsoon season.