Bhairahawa, Oct 10: Bhairahwa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport, which has been without regular international flights for six months, is set to see operations resume on October 26. Thai AirAsia has secured permission to operate two weekly flights from the airport. Other airlines, including Jazeera Airways, are also in discussions, with Jazeera expected to start services after the Tihar festival.

The airport had briefly hosted four foreign carriers in April while Tribhuvan International Airport underwent maintenance, with up to 20 weekly flights. During the five months before the April closure, over 200 flights carried around 7,000 passengers. Since then, only a few charter flights have operated.

The airport opened on May 17, 2022, coinciding with the 2566th Buddha Jayanti, and initially saw services from Nepal Airlines, Fly Dubai, Jazeera Airways, Thai AirAsia, and Himalaya Airlines. However, the lack of regular international flights has caused ongoing concerns for hotels and tourism businesses. Local investors, particularly around Bhairahwa, have poured nearly one billion rupees into airport-related projects. Many are now struggling to repay loans, with some hotels sold or left unfinished due to stalled flights.

Over the past year, the airport has recorded 556 international arrivals and departures. In five years, it has handled 1,057 flights, transporting 29,621 inbound and 31,641 outbound passengers, totaling 61,254 travelers. In the current fiscal year, only ten charter flights have landed, while in FY 2081–82, 278 international flights and an equal number of departures carried 12,830 arrivals and 11,128 departures.

To attract foreign carriers, the government has offered incentives at Bhairahwa and Pokhara airports, including a 3,000-rupee passenger service fee waiver, full exemptions on parking, landing, and navigation fees, and a 75% reduction in ground handling charges by Nepal Airlines. Fuel subsidies of $100 per flight have also been provided.

Despite these incentives, operators cite obstacles such as missing government offices at the airport and centralized ticket sales in Kathmandu, which limit the regularity and viability of international flights. With Thai AirAsia restarting services, businesses hope the airport can regain consistent international connectivity and support local tourism and investment.

People’s News Monitoring Service

Pressure mounts within NC to hold general convention soon

KATHMANDU, Oct 10: Nepali Congress (NC) leaders have argued that the party must hold its regular general convention to address the country’s recent political crisis. During a meeting of current and former office-bearers at the party’s central office in Sanepa on Thursday—the first since the Gen Z uprising on September 8–9—leaders emphasized the need for a swift and streamlined convention process.

While General Secretaries Gagan Kumar Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma have been engaged in a signature campaign to push for a special convention, other leaders opposed the idea. They argued that since the party's regular general convention is only two months away, as per the statute, there is no need for a special convention. Proponents argued that the upcoming Central Committee meeting should pave the way for a quick convention. Recalling that the party held its 11th general convention even under the direct rule of the king and during the Maoist insurgency, leaders emphasized the importance of contesting elections with a new leadership team.

Leaders argued that discussing a special convention for a soon-to-end Central Committee term is meaningless and that the party should finalize active membership and proceed with the convention immediately. Deputy General Secretary Badri Pandey noted that if there is collective will, the regular convention could be held within two months. He emphasized the need for new leadership ahead of elections, highlighting that public and cadre distrust toward senior leaders had grown after the recent turmoil.

The pro-special convention camp, led by Thapa and Sharma, maintained that if a regular convention cannot be held within the next two months, a special convention should be conducted to select new leadership. They argued that the party cannot progress under President Sher Bahadur Deuba and that they were unwilling to move forward under his leadership.

Deputy General Secretaries Umakant Chaudhary and Mahendra Yadav questioned the secretaries’ signature campaign, accusing them of pushing the party toward division during a time of national and party crisis. They criticized the secretaries for acting as if they were running a separate party.

According to a leader present at the meeting, General Secretaries Thapa and Sharma stated that a special convention was only being considered as a second option if a regular convention could not be held. However, Deputy General Secretaries Yadav and Chaudhary accused the secretaries of actively pushing the party toward division by raising the issue of a special convention.

Former Vice-President Bimlendra Nidhi urged Thapa and Sharma to halt the signature campaign, noting that Deuba had already committed to a leadership transition and that the party statute prohibits re-contesting. Arguing that the party should proceed with a regular general convention, he suggested that, for immediate operational purposes, the vice-president should be assigned acting responsibility in consultation with President Deuba.

Emphasizing that the party should focus on the election scheduled for March 5, he argued that the party must clarify its expectations from the government and the Election Commission and appeal to both voters and party workers to be prepared for the polls. Speaking against taking a stance in favor of the reinstatement of parliament, he stated, “If the prime minister, formed with the help of Congress, already said he was powerless while resigning, bringing back the same parliament would only intensify conflicts.”

Deputy General Secretary Yadav also stressed the need to focus on the upcoming election, while another Deputy General Secretary, Chaudhary, argued that NC should keep both options—parliament reinstatement and elections—open.

At the meeting, leader Shekhar Koirala noted that he has long advocated for holding regular and timely general conventions. With just a few months left before four years since the last convention, he emphasized the need to conduct the next convention promptly and efficiently.

Analyzing recent developments, Koirala suggested that the party should move forward after carefully assessing the situation. Central Committee member Arjun Narasingh KC highlighted that the party statute provides for a special convention, asserting that the move would be both lawful and consistent with party rules. He also stressed the need for leadership change, according to a participant.

At the beginning of the meeting, Vice-President Purna Bahadur Khadka informed participants that a coordination meeting had been held with party President Deuba. He added that Deuba requested a shared agenda be agreed upon at the Central Committee meeting scheduled to begin on October 12. As the turn for speaking by office-bearers and former office-bearers was not completed, the meeting will reconvene on Friday at 1 p.m., during which the Central Committee agenda will be finalized, leaders said.

US buys Argentine pesos, finalizes $20 billion currency swap

WASHINGTON, Oct 10: The United States directly bought Argentine pesos and sealed a $20 billion currency swap with Argentina’s central bank, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The move, considered rare, is meant to calm volatile markets in the cash-strapped South American nation. Bessent said Washington was “ready to take whatever exceptional measures” were necessary to restore market stability after four days of meetings with Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo in Washington, according to the AP.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, thanked both Trump and Bessent for their backing, declaring that the two nations would pursue “a hemisphere of economic freedom and prosperity,” the AP stated.

Bessent, already facing criticism from U.S. farmers and Democratic lawmakers, rejected claims that the swap amounts to a bailout. American farmers are angered by Argentina’s recent surge in soybean exports to China, which has cut into U.S. sales, the AP mentioned. 

Democratic lawmakers questioned how Trump’s administration could justify such a move under its “America First” banner. Following the announcement, several Democratic senators introduced the “No Argentina Bailout Act” to bar the Treasury from using the Exchange Stabilization Fund to support Argentina. Senator Elizabeth Warren said Trump was “propping up a foreign government while shutting down our own,” according to the AP.

Repeated international rescues have done little to fix Argentina’s chronic instability. The country remains the International Monetary Fund’s largest debtor, owing $41.8 billion. Milei, who took office in 2023 promising radical spending cuts, has implemented sweeping austerity measures that have deepened hardship without visible economic recovery, added the AP.

With midterm elections approaching on October 26, he faces growing frustration at home after heavy local election losses and an investor sell-off that hammered the peso and drained reserves, as reported by the AP.

The U.S. deal gives Milei breathing space. Argentine dollar bonds jumped 10 percent, and the Buenos Aires stock market gained 15 percent after Bessent confirmed the swap line. Minister Caputo praised Bessent’s “steadfast commitment.” Still, critics noted the absence of any conditions tied to the aid, calling it a political favor to a friendly leader rather than a strategic investment, the Associated Press reported.