Gautam Buddha Airport
Gautam Buddha Airport , also known as Bhairahawa Airport, is an international airport located in Siddharthanagar (Bhairahawa) serving Lumbini in Lumbini Province, as well as the Butwal﹣Siddharthanagar urban agglomeration in Nepal. It is currently upgraded to serve international flights. Operation of the runway of the airport has began in April 2022, with the first international flights scheduled for May 16. It is Nepal's second international airport. There are plans to make the airport fully solar powered, making it after Cochin International Airport only the second airport worldwide to do so. Nepal Airlines Corporation conducted a maiden test  flight on 28 April, 2022. A team of 260 individuals including Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale and CAAN Director General Pradeep Adhikari boarded the test flight. History. The airport was opened as a domestic airport called Bhairahawa Airport providing flights to Kathmandu in 1958 and has since been operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. In 1985, the airport was one of the targets of the Nepal bombings. In 1977, the airport was renamed Gautam Buddha Airport, now Gautam Buddha International Airport, in honor of Gautam Buddha, who was born in neighboring village Lumbini . Expansion to international airport. First plans to develop the then domestic aiport into Nepal's second international airport were developed in 2013 with the aim of operating the upgraded airport by 2017 in order to relieve the congested Tribhuvan International Airport. The project was 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. In 2015, construction began. It is planned to have a runway and sixteen international parking bays. In 2017, the upgradation works were 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 tests could not take place during monsoon season. In late 2021, the calibration flights were postponed due to the COVID-19  pandemic in Nepal, resulting in further postponement of the opening of the airport. These flights took place in February 2022. On 30 January 2022, the official opening date was set to Buddha Jayanti on 26 May 2022. In March 2022, it was announced that Jazeera Airways would be the first international airline to serve the airport. On 21 April 2022, the newly built 3,000 m runway was opened while the old one was put into use as a taxiway. Future plans. During the upgrade to an international airport, but before the opening of it, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and  Civil Aviation announced to build a new international terminal for the airport. The current terminal will be used as domestic terminal after Phase 2 is completed. Minister Yogesh Bhattarai sought suggestions on different designs for terminals of Gautam Buddha International Airport through social media. The terminal will have Sky-bridges, which the current terminal is lacking. Facilities. The airport is at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 10/28 with an asphalt surface measuring . Access. The airport is located near Feeder Road 44. Ground transportation. Upon the airport's upgrade in 2022, a system of  electric busses will serve Gautam Buddha Airport.