NOC to relocate TIA's aviation fuel depot

KATHMANDU, Nov 23:The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Pulchowk Engineering Campus have agreement to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the relocation of the NOC's aviation fuel depot on the premises of Tribhuvan International Airport.

The agreement was signed by Associate Professor of Consultancy Services, Pulchowk Campus, Narayan Prasad Gautam, and Deputy Director of the NOC Pradeep Yadav during an event held on Wednesday at the Sinamangal depot. According to the agreement, Pulchowk Campus will give the NOC the DPR in no more than six months.

To prepare the DPR, the NOC will provide Rs 1,98,84,183.73. The NOC has secured a 50-ropani plot near Guheshwori, next to the Nepal Army Golf Course, which was provided by CAAN for the new depot in accordance with "American Petroleum Institute" (API) standards.

Yadav, the deputy director of the NOC, told us that the depot is being moved because its location in Sinamangal is outside of international standards and puts the aviation industry at risk. According to him, in order to preserve the international standard between the airport runway and taxiway, the NOC depot had to be removed .

The distance to the airport is currently only roughly 90 meters, despite the fact that the international standard states that the distance between the taxiway and the center of the main runway should be 172.5 meters. Depot Chief Yadav explained the necessity of moving the depot by saying, "Recently, the pressure of aircraft has increased, but the storage is not sufficient, and the stock of aviation fuel has decreased." "This depot must be moved in accordance with the Airport Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project's master plan."

The August 12 Cabinet meeting had mandated that the aviation fuel store be moved within a year to a convenient and safe site. The CAAN has begun making the airport safer and wider in order to boost its air transport capacity. Yadav stated that the proposal to move the Sinamangal depot was implemented because of its extremely limited storage capacity and the impossibility of constructing more infrastructure in the area. By December 2027, the depot is expected to be moved.

Fuel usually remains in storage for five to seven days for routine use and three to five days for emergencies. However, he stated that in order to accommodate both domestic and international flights from Tribhuvan International Airport, a storage capacity of 20 days is needed.

The roughly 50-year-old Sinamangal Aviation Fuel Depot has a 7,660-liter storage capacity. Today, 400 kiloliters of aviation fuel are sold and delivered every day from this location. This depot contains eight 70-liter fuel storage tanks, three 760-liter fuel storage tanks, and three 1,600-liter fuel storage tanks.

Five 3,000-liter storage tanks will be part of the depot that is now being constructed. Modern technology will be installed at the new depot, according to Gautam, an associate professor of consultancy services at Pulchowk Campus.