The tiny Himalayan state
of Nepal has been in the news—almost always—for the wrong
reasons.
With an economy that was going nowhere
and a certain amount of political uncertainty, the country saw tourists
dwindling.
Almost simultaneously, flights in and
out of the country also decreased considerably.
For the landlocked nation, the decreasing
number of flights was like sounding the death knells because transportation
in and out of Nepal is dependent solely on roads and aviation. However,
the situation has improved dramatically over the last few days when
India and Nepal agreed to significantly enhance the number of flights.
The two neighboring countries recently
signed two instruments including a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
for a revised Air Services Agreement (ASA) and a technical accord,
which is a part of the MoU.
The agreement followed the norms laid
down by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
While
Mr. M. Madhavan Nambiar, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation led
the Indian delegation, Mr. Nagendra Prasad Ghimire, Secretary, Ministry
of Tourism and Civil Aviation of that country headed the Nepalese
side.
The newly agreed upon India-Nepal AASA
allows both nations to offer 30,000 seats every week.
The earlier figure was only 6,000 seats
with 63 weekly services between the two countries: 43 operated by
Indian carriers and 18 by Nepalese carriers (Druk Air operated three
weekly services while Nepal Air flew 17 flights). Nepal’s airlines
can now ferry passengers to Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,
Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore. In
addition, there is provision of operating direct cross-border flights
from regional airports in Nepal that will include Pokhara, Bhairahawa,
Biratnagar, Janakpur, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi in Nepal and Varanasi,
Patna, Gaya and Lucknow in India.
Perhaps, what is more important in the
agreement is the green signal for cargo flights to and from Nepal
and India. The designated airlines of
each country have been entitled to operate any number of all-cargo
services between each other’s territory with any type of aircraft
with full third, fourth and fifth traffic rights. These all-cargo
services could also be operated under cooperative marketing arrangements
such as code sharing, blocked space, etc.
Incidentally, India remains Nepal’s
biggest trading partner.
According
to figures available, a little over 70 percent of the total exports
from Nepal were to India while imports comprised 60 percent of the
country’s total imports in 2006-07.
The Nepalese cargo industry was, until
a few years ago, in a disorganized state. Freight forwarders were
organized under the banner of Freight Forwarders Association Nepal
(FAN) in 1990. Another parallel organization was created in 1994 in
the name of Cargo Agent Association Nepal (CAAN), which was a splinter
group of FAN.
Both organizations were reunited in
1998 at the behest of Nepal Multimodal Transit and Trade Facilitation
Project and formed the Nepal Freight Forwarders Associations (NEFFA).
The problems that the country faces
was highlighted by Mr. Raj Kumar Pandey, the First Vice President
of the Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA) at the UNESCAP
Regional Forum of Freight Forwarders, Multimodal Transport Operators
and Logistics Service Providers meet in Bangkok in June this year.
He pointed out that while the NEFFA has taken the initiative to develop
cargo handling and document processing at Kathmandu Airport, the nation’s
only international airport at its Cargo Complex, a lot remains to
be done.
The NEFFA initiative is still on for
the modernization of the facility as well as participation in the
terminal management.
NEFFA has taken up the responsibilities
of international cargo movement. With more than 80 freight forwarders
in the business registered with NEFFA, the association members facilitate
international trade by delivering goods at the destination in an efficient
and fast manner.
Orientation to multimodal transport,
liability of the freight forwarders and transporters, handling of
dangerous goods were some of the focus areas of training taken up
in the past, particularly with the help of the Nepal Multimodal Transit
and Trade Facilitation Project.
Tirthankar Ghosh
Air
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