International airline passenger traffic through Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) dropped for the first time since 2003 with a decline of 0.47 percent in the first six months of 2015.

According to TIA, 24 international airlines flew 1.71 million passengers between January and June this year. The negative passenger growth has been attributed to the April 25 earthquake that prompted a number of international carriers to cut their Nepal flights.

Airline officials said that passenger traffic would fall significantly this year due to a series of unfortunate events in Nepal. While airlines had been planning to increase their flight frequency in October, they were struck by a crippling fuel crisis from the third week of September.

The aviation fuel crisis led a number of carriers to slash their frequency and some even temporarily suspended their Nepal services.

Despite the drop in passenger traffic, aircraft movement increased 12.75 percent to 14,290 flights during the review period. The stats show that that country’s sole international airport handled 80 international flight movements daily.

In the chaotic aftermath of the April 25 Great Earthquake, TIA strained to handle rescue and humanitarian aid flights from different countries, including charters to rescue foreign nationals, resulting in increased aircraft movement.

Almost all the international carriers recorded a negative passenger growth in the first six months of 2015, according to TIA.

India’s Jet Airways topped the list of carriers with the highest number of passengers. Jet, which serves the Delhi and Mumbai sectors, flew 182,996 passengers, up 3.63 percent. The passenger carriage of Doha-based Qatar Airways dropped 1.73 percent to 168,728 in the review period.

Low-cost carriers Air Arabia and Fly Dubai stood third and fourth, with passenger growths of 8.39 percent and 0.77 percent respectively. Air Arabia and Fly Dubai received 144,573 and 131,590 passengers respectively.

Air India saw its passenger numbers drop 3.29 percent to 119,529. Malaysia-based Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia X, which had been doing exceptionally well in the Nepal market, also saw negative passenger growth.

Malaysia Airlines flew 88,158 passengers, down 0.59 percent, while Air Asia flew 94,194 passengers, down 11.04 percent in the review period.

Nepal’s national flag carrier Nepal Airlines continued to show negative passenger growth in the first half of 2015. It flew 94,080 passengers, down 3.13 percent.

India’s SpiceJet, which suspended flights to Nepal in June, saw its passenger numbers drop 54.58 percent to 41,778.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways flew 82,483 travellers, down 7.30 percent. Likewise, Thai Airways saw a drop of 2.47 percent in passenger occupancy to 67,191 in the review period.