Nepal plans to name an airport in the remote Everest region after pioneering climbers Sir Edmund Hillary, who died last week, and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, a minister said on Wednesday.

Tourism Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung said he would also propose to the cabinet that Nepal mark the day the pair climbed the world's highest mountain as Everest day.

New Zealand's Hillary, who died last week at the age of 88, and Nepal's Tenzing Norgay, who passed away in 1986 at the age of 72, climbed the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) Everest summit on May 29, 1953.

That feat opened up impoverished Nepal to the world as a popular destination for mountain climbing and trekking. Tourism now accounts for four percent of its GDP.

"I will propose in the cabinet that Lukla airport be renamed as Tenzing-Hillary airport in their honour," said Gurung.

Gurung said his plans followed demands from Sherpas as well as trekking and mountaineering firms to remember the pioneering climbers.

"When the government takes a final decision on the proposals that will be a small token of our respect for them."

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