Departure
85%
vs 95% ▼ 10
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Phaplu Airport is a small, high-altitude domestic airfield serving the Solukhumbu District in Nepal's Koshi Province, close to the trekking town of Salleri and within the approach lanes of the famous Lukla Airport. Perched at over 8,000 feet in the foothills of the Himalayas, it is a demanding single-runway strip that offers flight sim pilots a taste of Nepal's mountain flying environment.
Phaplu Airport is a domestic airfield operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, located at Phaplu in the Solu Dudhkunda area of Solukhumbu District, Koshi (Province No. 1). It serves as an important air link for a mountainous region with poor road connectivity, and is notable to pilots for its proximity to Lukla Airport, with diverted Lukla-bound flights sometimes landing here instead. Its high elevation and short runway make it a challenging destination typical of Nepal's short takeoff and landing (STOL) mountain airstrips.
The airfield sits in mountainous terrain in Solukhumbu District, near the district headquarters of Salleri, in Koshi Province, Nepal. It lies within the approach routing used for flights to Lukla Airport, and its position amid Himalayan terrain means local weather and terrain awareness are important considerations for any approach or departure.
Phaplu has a single physical runway, 02/20, surfaced in hard material (asphalt/concrete) and measuring 2,235 feet in length. There is no ILS approach available, so all operations are conducted visually.
No communications frequencies are published for Phaplu Airport, and it has no instrument landing system; pilots should expect to operate visually with any coordination handled informally given the absence of listed radio facilities.
No specific published joining or circuit procedures are available for Phaplu; given the mountainous surroundings and the short single runway, arrivals and departures should be flown with careful visual reference to terrain and in accordance with standard mountain-flying practice for the region.
The airfield can be identified by its position near Salleri, the Solukhumbu district headquarters, and its setting within the approach corridor to Lukla Airport, making the surrounding high Himalayan terrain and the nearby town the primary visual references for locating the strip.
Phaplu Airport opened in October 1976 and was later broadened by Sir Edmund Hillary to allow operation of de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, reflecting his long association with development in the Solukhumbu region. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal closed the airport in 2013 to repave the runway, and it reopened in 2014 with a fully blacktopped surface.
Phaplu continues to operate as a domestic airport serving Solukhumbu District, with scheduled flights historically operated by carriers such as Nepal Airlines, Sita Air, Summit Air and Tara Air to and from Kathmandu, alongside occasional charter services. Because the field lies within Lukla's approach routing, flights bound for Lukla are sometimes diverted here when weather disrupts operations at that airport, and the region is subject to regular weather-related flight disruptions.
