Kathmandu flight disruptions on weekend

Passengers have been warned to face disruptions in international and domestic flights at Kathmandu on Saturday and Sunday due to the movement of visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The two Boeing 747-400s bringing Xi and his entourage will arrive at Kathmandu airport from Chennai between 1630-1730 on 12 October. The airport will be closed for that period. Since the two aircraft are too large to be pushed back, they will park lengthwise and occupy six of the nine bays at the international apron in Kathmandu airport.

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International flights have therefore been staggered and rescheduled between 1730 on Saturday till Xi’s departure at 1230 on Sunday. The airport management is keeping the airport open all night on Saturday night to accommodate rescheduled arrivals and departures.

For example, Saturday’s Cathay Dragon flight that would have departed Kathmandu at 11pm will now leave early Sunday morning at 6AM. Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul that usually departs at 0745 will be preponed by one hour to leave at 0700AM. Thai International on both days will be delayed by one hour. (See table issued by Tribhuvan International Airport below for details.)

Domestic flights will operate as scheduled for the most part, except for the one hour periods on Saturday afternoon and mid-day on Sunday when President Xi’s entourage will be arriving and departing.

Airline managers say the airport has tried to make the best of the situation, but since the flights are slotted so tightly together a delay of one flight could have a cascade effect on other flights.

Kathmandu airport is heavily congested even at normal times, and the VVIP movement will make it worse. Flights are expected to get back to normal by Monday morning.