Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Tribhuvan International Airport (VNKT/KTM) is Nepal's sole international gateway, sitting in the Kathmandu Valley close to the capital's ancient cities and the Pashupatinath Temple. It is a busy hub for domestic and international carriers alike, and for the sim pilot it offers a demanding tabletop-runway approach ringed by high terrain, with services down to Everest sightseeing and mountain-airstrip feeder flights.
Tribhuvan International Airport, known locally as TIA, lies in Kathmandu, Bagmati Province, and is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. It is the country's only international airport, serving as the principal air-gate into Nepal and a hub for Nepal Airlines, Himalaya Airlines and several domestic carriers. For a simulator pilot it is a distinctive destination: a single tabletop runway set in a mountain-ringed valley, busy with a mix of airliners, domestic turboprops and helicopter operators, and long associated with flights to Lukla and Everest sightseeing sorties.
The airport sits in the Kathmandu Valley, about 6 km east of the city centre and the Thamel tourist area, and roughly 1 km from the Pashupatinath Temple. It is the only international airport in Nepal and links to all domestic destinations within the country, making it the focal point of Nepalese controlled airspace.
Tribhuvan International has a single physical runway, 02/20, oriented northeast-southwest. Runway 02 is 10,010 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with an ILS; the reciprocal, runway 20, is 9,603 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit. The runway has a tabletop configuration, a feature pilots should be aware of when planning approaches.
Kathmandu Approach operates on 120.6 MHz, with an ATIS broadcast on 127 MHz. Kathmandu Ground is on 121.9 MHz, Kathmandu Radio on 292.3 MHz, and Kathmandu Tower on 118.1 MHz. The airport is equipped with an ILS on runway 02, and airport surveillance radar (ASR) and secondary surveillance radar (SSR) have been in operation since 1997.
The Pashupatinath Temple lies approximately 1 km from the airport and can serve as a useful visual landmark, while the city centre and Thamel district lie about 6 km to the west, giving pilots a general sense of the airport's position within the Kathmandu Valley.
The airfield began life as Gauchaur Airport, named after the grazing ground on which it was built, with the first aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza carrying the Indian ambassador, landing on 23 April 1949. The first charter flight followed in February 1950, linking Gauchaur to Calcutta, and later that year an Indian-registered DC-3 opened the first scheduled service to Patna, Kolkata and Delhi. The airport played a role in Nepalese political history: in 1950 King Tribhuvan took refuge in the Indian embassy during an attempt to overthrow the Rana dynasty, and Indian aircraft carried him and his young grandson, later King Gyanendra, to Delhi; King Tribhuvan returned to Gauchaur as monarch in February 1951, marking the restoration of democracy in Nepal. The airport was inaugurated by King Mahendra on 15 June 1955 and renamed Tribhuvan Airport in memory of his father, becoming Tribhuvan International Airport in 1964. The original 3,700-foot grass runway 16/34 was relaid in concrete in 1957 before being abandoned in 1964 in favour of a new 6,600-foot runway 02/20, later extended to 10,000 feet in 1975 with support from the Asian Development Bank and OPEC, and re-strengthened in 1981. Notable arrivals include Queen Elizabeth II in 1961 and the Concorde on 11 October 1987. The airport received its first jet aircraft, a Lufthansa Boeing 707, in 1967, and Royal Nepal Airlines began jet operations with a Boeing 727 in 1972, the same year Nepali personnel took over air traffic services from Indian staff. A new terminal complex was completed in 1989 and officially inaugurated by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah on 18 February 1990. Necon Air, Nepal's first private airline, began operations from the airport in 1992, and airport surveillance and secondary surveillance radar were commissioned in 1997 following earlier air disasters, being formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on 9 September 1998.
Tribhuvan International remains Nepal's only international airport and its busiest in terms of passenger movement, serving as the hub for Nepal Airlines and Himalaya Airlines alongside numerous domestic operators including Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines and Sita Air. It also supports extensive mountain and Everest sightseeing flights, and is a base for helicopter operators such as Air Dynasty, Manang Air, Prabhu Helicopter, Simrik Air, Shree Airlines and Fishtail Air. Due to heavy traffic, winter fog and the field operating at capacity, Nepalese authorities have promoted Gautam Buddha International Airport and Pokhara International Airport as diversion alternatives. Nepal Airlines and Buddha Air both maintain hangar facilities at the airfield.