The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will be signing an agreement for the implementation of a Rs1.51 billion project to improve safety and efficiency of air transport in Nepal.

The accord, to be signed in Japan next week, will mark the next phase of the collaboration on air safety with Jica after the Rs906 million grant project to install radar systems at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and Bhatte Danda, Lalitpur in the south.

The grant assistance was pledged on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Nepal.

The Finance Ministry and Jica signed the grant agreement for the Project for Improvement of Aviation Safety Facilities in Major Airports in Nepal in August last year. The project will last 24 months, including detailed design work and the bidding period. 

This is the largest Japanese grant in the civil aviation sector. It will be used to improve safety at eight airports across Nepal: five short take-off and landing airstrips, two regional airports and TIA.

Caan Spokesperson Birendra Prasad Shrestha said that a Caan delegation was scheduled to leave for Japan next week. As Jica is in the process of selecting a suitable contractor for the project, the Caan team will assess the documents before finalizing the selection, officials said.

Under the project, TIA will be equipped with localizer distance measuring equipment (DME) to provide instrument landing system localizer for indicating the direction of approach, making accurate aircraft approaches possible for 27,000 international flights annually. The system provides horizontal guidance to aircraft during the landing approach. 

Likewise, VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) equipment and distance measuring equipment (DME) will be installed at airports in Chandragadhi in the east and Dhangadhi in the west. The equipment will allow an increase in the number of domestic flights through high-precision flight techniques to destination airports.

Other plans include enhancing capacity at the Civil Aviation Academy, Sano Thimi. Similarly, Lukla, Jomsom, Jumla, Rara and Simikot airports will be equipped with solar power supply systems.

According to a Caan study, Jomsom airport, which requires 29,016 W of power daily, can produce 16,000 W if solar panels are installed. Solar power systems at Lukla airport can generate more than 22,000 W.

These airports, which become very busy during the tourist season, require 50,925 W and 21,628 W of energy respectively. The study shows that solar power supply systems can power these airports for at least two days if there is no electricity.

In March 2013, JICA provided a grant to install two new radars at TIA and Bhatte Danda in Lalitpur. The advanced second generation Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) system, which is expected to go into commercial operation on February 1, is expected to make Nepali skies safer.