Nepal's first aircraft museum to boost tourism in far west region

The opening of Nepal's first aircraft museum in Dhangadi in the far western part of the country, some 500 km from Kathmandu, has attracted local and foreign tourists to the much-neglected region.

Just three months after its opening, the aircraft museum has been the talk of the town and thousands of people have flocked to view the different miniature aircraft on display.

In a talk with Xinhua, Captain Bed Upreti, aircraft museum director, said the Dhangadi museum is not only the first of its kind in Nepal, but also in the whole world for having a display of down-sized models of all kinds of aircraft.

"We are happy that people from all walks of life have visited the museum. This is a boost to the region's tourism and we are proud of our contribution to this sector," Upreti said.

It was Upreti, a 52-year-old former pilot and a native of Dhangadi, who conceptualized the idea of putting up an aircraft museum.

In l986 or some 30 years ago, Upreti started his career in the Nepalese Army and later as a military and civilian pilot. Upreti's passion for flying has led him to put up the museum.

The museum is actually the fuselage of a 100-seater aircraft of Cosmic Air, which has already closed its operation in Nepal. The museum, which is 35.53 meters long, contains the aircraft cockpit and more than 200 mini aircraft like Fokker, Avro, Airbus 330, Airbus 380, Boeings and many more.

At the museum's cockpit, a visitor can learn the technical details of flying. On display inside the museum are some 60 enlarged photos of popular tourism sites in Nepal and from around the world. The museum has also a restaurant that can serve visitors during their tour.

There are different replicas or old aircraft, including the first plane flown by Wright brothers in 1903. The miniature aircraft were brought from different parts of the world like France, Singapore, China, South Korea and Indonesia.

"My aim in transforming trash into cash is solely to promote local tourism. I am not concerned about revenues. I just want people to discover our place and enjoy looking at the various kinds of aircraft on display in the museum," Upreti said.

Upreti is still working as a pilot trainer at Lions Airlines in Indonesia.

The museum was completed in seven months, with around 1.5- million- U.S. dollar investment. While the idea came from one individual, it got the support and collaboration of the locals.

Dinesh Bhandari, former president of Kailali Chamber of Commerce, said their region has a lot of natural attractions but tourists were not coming. "But the aircraft museum is now attracting visitors to the region," he said.

According to Raj Bahadur Singh, museum manager, some 100 to 200 people visit the museum every day. But on weekends and holidays, the number of visitors goes up to 400-500 a day.

"Since September, more than 20,000 people have already visited the museum. Most of the visitors are from outside of Dhangadi and they include politicians and local celebrities," Singh said.

Although largely undeveloped, Nepal's far west region has Asia' s largest suspension bridge, the largest swamp deer reserve in the country and different species of wildlife. The region also boasts of scenic trekking destinations, several rivers and a huge forested area.