All flights approaching from the northern end of Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be barred from landing from Monday onwards for at least three months, the airport authority said. This is being done for the construction of a 175-metre entry or exit taxiway, intended to provide a link to and from the main runway.

According to airport officials, they have informed all airlines about the plan.

On average, Tribhuvan International Airport currently handles 352 flights a day, and since it will be a one-way approach system, it may cause traffic delays.

Officials say that as international airlines don’t use the north end to land, it may affect 10-15 percent of domestic flights. But as the work has started at the peak travel season, it may have cascading effects on all, airline officials said.

Airlines officials said they have revised their schedules accordingly.

As part of the improvement plan at the TIA in Kathmandu, currently, there are two ongoing parallel taxiway projects.

A 1,140-metre-long parallel taxiway is being built on the southern side, or the Koteshwar side, of the runway. This will connect the existing international apron to the end of runway 02.

Similarly, another 450-metre-long parallel taxiway is being constructed at the northern end of the runway.

“The entry or exit taxiway on the northern side will provide a link to and from the main runway. Once both taxiways are complete, the airport will have a full parallel taxiway—from south to north,” said Dipendra Shrestha, the project director.

The project is a part of the Tribhuvan International Airport Master Plan (2016-2028) that aims to extend the capacity of the international airport to cater to the projected traffic.

A preliminary study shows that the extension of parallel taxiways can increase runway capacity by about 40 percent.

As the taxiway does not extend along the full length of the runway, aircraft face delays before landing and taking off as they have to wait for other aircraft to clear the runway, creating congestion at the country’s key aerial gateway.

“From tomorrow [Monday], only landings from the northern end [Bauddha side] have been barred,” said Pratap Babu Tiwari, general manager at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport.

“All flights will have to approach or land from Runway 02 or the Koteshwar side. Takeoffs, however, are allowed from both sides.”

As part of the broader development of the TIA, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has planned the construction of a new international apron with 18 parking bays on the northern side of the airport, along with a full parallel taxiway.

The existing international apron will be converted to a domestic apron.

Under the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, Spanish contractor Constructora Sanjose was awarded the project and was expected to be implemented in about 67 months following its launch in December 2010.

One major component was supplying 2.1 million cubic metres of soil to fill the ravine on the northern side of the airport.

The contractor extracted soil from the Pashupati quarry. But the move was challenged in the Supreme Court, which responded by issuing a stay order. The Spanish company then stopped work after having removed 400,000 cubic metres of soil.

There were further delays due to the 2015 earthquakes and fuel shortages. The project completion deadline was first extended to 2015 and then to 2016, but when even that seemed unachievable, the date was pushed back to 2020.

In December 2016, the original contractor, the Spanish Constructora Sanjose, was fired for non-performance.

The project resumed in 2020.

“The soil filling work on the northern side is almost complete now,” said Shrestha.

Separately, in November 2020, the Asian Development Bank approved $150 million for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to upgrade the airports in Kathmandu and Bhairahawa.

In Kathmandu, under the project, two hangar aprons are planned on the east side of the airport. The existing hangars of Nepal Airlines and the Nepal Army will be relocated to the eastern side.

Hangar Apron No 1 will be constructed for Nepal Airlines complementing Buddha Air’s hangar, according to the Asian Development Bank’s document. The apron will have parking capacity for two Code C aircraft like the Boeing 737-700 and the Airbus A-320; and three Code E aircraft like the Boeing 747 and the Airbus 340.

Hangar No 2 of the Nepal Army is located at the south side of the deep well used for water supply and the airport's radar station.

The apron will have parking space for three Code C aircraft and four fixed-wing aircraft including the MI-17, the document says. The runway side strips will be improved complementing these hangar aprons and associated taxiways.

International passenger numbers at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport rose to a record level in 2023, surpassing the 2018 figures, a strong rebound in travel after the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns.

The airport's busiest year was 2018 when it had 4.38 million passengers.

According to the airport's statistics, 4.54 million international air travellers passed through the country’s main gateway last year, up 30.18 percent from 2022.

In terms of flight movement, TIA handled 31,460 take-offs and landings, up 29.4 percent compared to 2022.

The airport authority said that the rise in the number of tourists and Nepali migrant workers helped international airlines see a record number of passengers.

The country welcomed over a million foreign tourists while an equal number of migrant workers and students left last year.

Domestic air travel, however, was hit hard by the economic slowdown, high taxes and crashes in 2023. This was in sharp contrast to 2022 when passenger numbers boomed.

Nepal’s domestic airlines—nine fixed-wing operators and 12 helicopters—flew 4.15 million passengers in 2023.

According to TIA statistics, domestic airlines saw a sharp 7.07 percent drop in passenger growth in 2023, as compared to 2022 figures.