Poor Visibility Forces Kathmandu Flight Diversions
- Poor visibility on Sunday morning forced Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu to divert three inbound international flights and disrupted some domestic services after conditions worsened after 7 a.m. - Airport officials said visibility along Kathmandu’s approach path fell to about 1,600 meters, sending Turkish Airlines to New Delhi and returning Air China and Sichuan Airlines flights. - Kathmandu airport has faced repeated weather shutdowns this year, including a dense-fog closure in January. (kathmandupost.com)
Poor visibility over Kathmandu on Sunday morning forced Tribhuvan International Airport to divert three inbound international flights and disrupted some domestic services. (kathmandupost.com) The diverted flights were Turkish Airlines from Istanbul, which was sent to New Delhi, Air China from Chengdu, which returned to Lhasa, and a Sichuan Airlines narrow-body flight that turned back to Chengdu. About 600 passengers were affected. (kathmandupost.com) (ekantipur.com) Devendra Prasad Shrestha, the airport’s assistant spokesperson and chief air traffic controller, said weather conditions began deteriorating after 7 a.m. Visibility on the approach path dropped to around 1,600 meters. (kathmandupost.com) Kathmandu uses two landing systems in poor weather: VOR/DME and satellite-based Required Navigation Performance Authorization Required, or RNP-AR. Shrestha said VOR/DME approaches need at least 1,600 meters of visibility, while RNP-AR approaches need at least 1,100 meters. (kathmandupost.com 1) (kathmandupost.com 2) Airport officials said visibility improved after about 11:30 a.m., reaching roughly 2,500 meters, and takeoffs continued normally even while arrivals were being affected. One airline employee told Kantipur that crowding built up inside the terminal after disrupted passengers had already completed check-in. (ekantipur.com) The disruption hit Nepal’s only major international gateway, where the airport has said it handles about 90 international flights and at least 250 domestic flights a day, with roughly 25,000 passengers moving through its two terminals daily. (ekantipur.com) Weather-related interruptions have recurred at Tribhuvan this year. On January 29, dense fog shut the airport from 7:20 a.m., with visibility reported at just 500 meters until 9:30 a.m. (kathmandupost.com) Sunday’s diversions ended once the weather lifted, but the episode showed again how quickly low cloud and fog can choke arrivals into Kathmandu even when departures keep moving. (kathmandupost.com)
