A test flight at the Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) will be conducted on Thursday, informed Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) reports The Rising Nepal.

According to CAAN, an aircraft of Nepal Airlines will be conducting the test flight.

According to The Rising Nepal, CAAN Spokesperson Deo Chandra Lal Karn informed that the flight will leave Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) for GBIA at 3 pm on Thursday and return from GBIA at 5 pm.

Earlier, the test flight was scheduled on the day of Nepali New Year on April 14 but was postponed.

“A team of 260 individuals including Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale and CAAN Director General Pradeep Adhiklari will be boarding the test flight,” said Karn.

The team will also be inspecting GBIA’s immigration, customs and security situations.

“After the test flight, other countries can contact us to use the airport for chartered and commercial flights,” said GBIA’s Director-General Govinda Prasad Dahal.

The government has already requested keen airline companies to use the GBIA. Officials informed that 11 companies have already shown interest to operate commercial flights at the airport but haven’t sent official letters yet. Regular flights have been scheduled to start at the GBIA on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti on May 16.