Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be closed for around 10 hours daily for approximately five months starting today, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). This closure is being implemented to facilitate expansion work at the airport, which will suspend flights daily to complete the upgrades.
The expansion project, led by the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project under CAAN, includes building a parallel taxiway on the southwestern side, expanding the international apron on the northern side, and the hangar apron on the eastern side. This project is expected to cost around NPR 15 billion. During the upgrade, all flights between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. will be suspended. Currently, the airport operates from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Dipendra Shrestha, the project chief, stated that the parallel taxiway would be built alongside the runway to ensure flight safety, which necessitates flight suspensions during construction. Nepal currently has three operational international airports: Tribhuvan International Airport, which is the oldest, Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa, and Pokhara International Airport, which opened more recently.
Tribhuvan International Airport has undergone repeated maintenance and capacity upgrades. In 2020, the airport extended its runway to 3,300 meters, which also required a 12-hour daily closure from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Previously, the runway extension involved expansion on the southern side near the Koteshwor area.
In 2018, TIA was closed for 10 hours daily for nearly four months to carry out complete runway maintenance (resurfacing), which led to a 30% reduction in both domestic and international flights.
Currently, 19 domestic airlines, including 11 helicopter operators, and 30 international airlines, including three Nepali carriers, operate through TIA. The airport handles over 300 domestic flights and around 100 international flights daily.
