Flights at the Tenzing Hillary Airport in Lukla, Solukhumbu, have been halted for two consecutive days due to unfavorable weather conditions. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) in Lukla, no flights have been able to operate since Monday, following a sudden change in weather.
Bibas Dahal, an Air Traffic Control (ATC) Officer at the Lukla airport, confirmed that while approximately 800 tourists arrived in Lukla through 90 flights on Sunday, no further flights have been possible since then. Continuous fog has severely impacted flights, stranding tourists in the region who had planned to visit the Everest area.
“Tourists bound for Lukla have been held up in Manthali, Ramechhap, and some are reportedly stuck in Kathmandu as well,” said Dahal. “The unfavorable weather has disrupted flights, causing delays for visitors.”
In response to the halted flights, helicopters have been landing at Surke, a location slightly lower than Lukla. Meanwhile, Hirona Shah, head of the Civil Aviation Authority at Manthali, reported that around 1,300 foreign tourists have been stranded in Manthali for two days, awaiting flights to Lukla. Some of these tourists are now planning to reach Khumbu via Salleri, Solukhumbu’s district headquarters, by road, while others are flying to Surke by helicopter.
Manthali Airport typically handles 55 to 60 flights daily during the peak tourist season. Many tourists traveling to Everest Base Camp trek during autumn use flights from Kathmandu and Manthali to reach Lukla.
The ongoing disruption has caused significant delays, highlighting the challenges of weather-dependent travel in Nepal’s mountainous regions.
Source: RSS
