By Prem Adhikari
Ilam, Jan. 19: The people of Ilam will now be able to fly to Kathmandu from the newly constructed Phalgunanda Sukilumba Airport.
Tara Air will fly to Kathmandu from the airport every Sunday starting on February 20 and according to Mahesh Basnet, mayor of Ilam Municipality, the number of flights can increase depending on the passenger volume.

Basnet also informed that the municipality had signed an agreement with Tara Air to operate the flights and would bear all the financial obligations related to it.
Tara Air informed that it would use a 16-seater aircraft for the flight. The one-way fare for travelling from Ilam to Kathmandu has been fixed at Rs. 8,700.

A test flight was conducted from the airport three years ago and it had been readied for commercial flights last April. However, it is only now coming into operation.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, it cost around Rs. 280 million to construct the airport.

The airport is expected to benefit the citizens of Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung as well as some border districts of India. Work on the airport, which covers an area of 328 Ropanis, began in 2002 and took 20 years to complete.
Devi Poudel, president of the Hotel Entrepreneurs Association of Ilam, said that the flights would help bring tourists to the region and support local businesses.