Gelephu Domestic airport saw the first flight land today after its inaugural in October last year. The passengers were mostly officials of the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources who had come for today’s inaugural of the 4th Regional Job Fair in Gelephu.
The minister for information and communications, Nandalal Rai, and the labour minister, Dorji Wangdi, were along among the passengers. The flight landed at around 7:30 am.
The officials have made use of the domestic flight facility made available by the Government.
A circular issued by the Ministry of Finance in January this year, says government officials in Position level P5 and above, travelling on official duty, will be eligible to avail themselves of the domestic air services.
The initiative is aimed at cutting cost and utilizing human resources efficiently. The officials cannot claim the travel and daily allowances of Nu.500 per day and mileage of Nu.14 per kilometre.
The cost of a round trip to Gelephu and Paro comes to about Nu.7600 per passenger. The flight duration is about 25 minutes between Paro airport and Gelephu.
