Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) initiated the process to move its aviation fuel depot, currently located at Tribhuvan International Airport’s Sinamangal area, due to safety concerns. However, the effort has stalled because the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has delayed transferring the promised land.

After a Cabinet decision in mid-August 2022 to relocate the depot, necessary land near the Nepal Army Golf Course at Gauchar was earmarked for the NOC. But CAAN has not yet transferred the full plot, said Pradeep Yadav, head of the aviation fuel depot.

NOC has made repeated written and verbal requests to CAAN to finalize the land agreement. However, the four-kuwa plot still hasn’t been officially handed over, and structures belonging to the Nepal Army remain in place. The ownership and handover process remain unresolved.

The current depot is more than 50 years old, with limited storage - enough only for five days’ fuel supply. It is located dangerously close to a taxiway, violating International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards, yet CAAN has not addressed the required relocation, even though it was they who had previously insisted on it.

A Saurya Airlines aircraft incident prompted a Cabinet directive in the past year to relocate the depot immediately. A 2018 study estimated the relocation cost at around Rs 6 billion.

To proceed with relocation, NOC has already built a four-room site office and constructed an access road to the designated site. In November 2024, a six-month DPR study agreement was signed with the Institute of Engineering Consultancy Services, Pulchowk. The design and technical work - including structural, architectural, electrical, sanitary, and mechanical drawings - are 90–95 percent complete; 3D models are 85% done; the cost estimate is 90% complete; the design report is 85% complete; and site surveys and soil testing have been finished.

The planned depot will comprise five storage tanks with a combined capacity of 15,000 kiloliters (3,000 kL each) - a significant upgrade from the current seven tanks totaling 7,660 kL.

Tribhuvan International Airport handles around 48 international and 160 domestic flights daily, consuming up to 900,000 liters of aviation fuel per day. The current depot’s five-day supply is below the ICAO-recommended 7–10 days.

According to ICAO standards, there must be at least 172.5 meters between the runway centerline and nearby infrastructure. CAAN’s own master plan states that constructing the taxiway would require removal of nearly half the existing depot area.

As aviation fuel demand grows, NOC warns that delays in relocation not only risk safety but could also tarnish the country’s international standing if identified during ICAO safety audits.