Gautam Buddha International Airport, which is expected to be ready for operation by June next year, is likely to miss the completion deadline.

According to a report published in My Republica, Chinese company, Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction, had started construction work of the regional airport on June 15, 2015, setting a deadline in the contract to complete the project by December, 2017. 

The government extended the completion deadline by a year, citing factors like the 2015 earthquakes, unofficial economic blockade by India, and shortage of construction materials.

“The national pride project is being built as an alternative to the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) -- the only international airport in the country - which has already reached its saturation point,” reports daily.

Though the new deadline is only nine months away, only 30 percent of the construction work has been completed so far. The delay has raised the fear that the airport might not be ready for international flight operation by June next year. 

According to project officials, the Chinese contractor should achieve 6 percent of physical progress every month to complete the project on time. However, it has managed to achieve only 0.5 percent per work progress per month.