September 25: The government is preparing to hand over the management of Gautam Buddha International Airport to Germany’s Munich International Airport. The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said it is currently studying the proposal submitted by the Munich International Airport.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 30 this year had decided not to announce competitive bidding for selecting the company to operate Gautam Buddha International Airport but to award the contract under government-to-government (G2G) model.

The airport with 26 percent stake of the German government had submitted its proposal to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation as well as the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) around three months ago. Munich Airport has expressed its willingness to operate Gautam Buddha International Airport for 50 years.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said that the government is currently studying the proposal of the German airport.

“The government will take a decision regarding this issue very soon,” said Minister Bhattarai.

Officials at the ministry say that Munich International Airport is most likely to bag the contract as no other airport has submitted its proposal to operate Gautam Buddha International Airport under the G2G framework.

The ministry has formed a committee to study the prospects of handing the management of Gautam Buddha International Airport to the German airport.

Gautam Buddha International Airport will be completed by December this year and will come into operation by March 2020. The work progress of the airport is more than 83 percent. It can however accommodate aircraft in case of emergency landing.  The construction of parking bay, taxing area, administrative building and the runway of the airport has been completed so far.