Kathmandu Airport Closure Leaves Thousands Stranded

The sudden nighttime closure of Kathmandu Airport for the next few months has caused chaos, with many flights cancelled and thousands of passengers stranded in Nepal.

Kathmandu Airport nighttime closure

Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal’s main international gateway, will be closed to flight traffic each night from 10pm to 8am until 31 March 2025.

According to the Nepali Times, the five-month nighttime closure of Kathmandu Airport is necessary to construct new taxiways, which will make flight operations more efficient and reduce congestion.

Once completed, it will allow one plane to land every four minutes instead of every seven, doubling capacity to 42 aircraft landings and take-offs per hour.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has instructed airlines to reschedule their nighttime flights to Kathmandu where possible, or cancel them.

Flight cancellations

The nighttime closure of Kathmandu Airport has led to numerous cancellations, as several major international airlines had flights scheduled to arrive or depart during the night.

As the Nepali authorities only gave airlines a few weeks’ notice about the nighttime closure of Kathmandu Airport, it has resulted in full-blown chaos.

Unsurprisingly, many airlines have been unable to make last-minute adjustments to their flight schedules, which are fixed months in advance, with tens of thousands of seats already sold on flights to Kathmandu.

As the airport operates at full capacity during the daytime, with no room for extra flights, many airlines have been forced to cancel their nighttime flights to Kathmandu.

Among the affected airlines that have cancelled flights to Kathmandu Airport are Air Arabia (to/from Sharjah), Cathay Pacific (to/from Hong Kong), flydubai (to/from Dubai), Jazeera Airways (to/from Kuwait), Singapore Airlines (to/from Singapore), and Qatar Airways (to/from Doha).

Several Nepal Airlines flights from Kathmandu to destinations across Asia and the Middle East have also been cancelled.

Stranded passengers

The nighttime closure of Kathmandu Airport and the hundreds of cancelled flights have led to complete chaos at the airport, according to local media.

During the daytime, when flights are operating, the terminals are overcrowded with passengers, and flight delays of several hours are common due to air traffic restrictions.

Worse still, the flight cancellations have left thousands of passengers stranded in Kathmandu during what is Nepal’s peak travel season.

In some cases, passengers whose flights home from Kathmandu Airport were cancelled have been told they can only be rebooked in what could be several weeks’ time.

Rebooking flights

Although there is a lot of anger among affected passengers towards the airlines, it’s hard to blame them, as the fault for the cancellations clearly lies with the Nepali authorities, who decided to close Kathmandu Airport at night during peak tourist season on such short notice.

With many planes already fully booked and no capacity at Kathmandu Airport during the daytime to operate extra flights, the sudden nighttime closure is creating a significant headache for the affected airlines in how to accommodate and rebook stranded passengers.

As the issues are beyond the control of the airlines, affected passengers cannot claim compensation for their cancelled flights.

However, depending on the airline and route, they may be eligible for duty of care, such as free accommodation and meals while they wait to be rebooked.

Unfortunately, unusual situations like these with hundreds of cancelled flights occasionally happen, whether due to the incompetence of authorities or a natural disaster, such as the massive air travel disruption across Europe following the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland.

In such cases, it’s always best to be proactive and not simply wait for the airline to rebook you, but also to actively search for alternatives yourself.

For example, if you can easily get a visa or don’t need one, you could travel overland from Nepal to India and ask the airline to rebook you from an Indian airport instead, as there should be plenty of seats available on those flights, unlike the upcoming departures from Kathmandu.

Such situations are also a great reminder of why you should always take out travel insurance, as a good policy may reimburse extra costs you need to cover out of pocket, including an expensive flight to get you out of Nepal in time if the airline you’re supposed to fly with isn’t able to rebook you in due time.

Conclusion

Kathmandu Airport’s sudden nighttime closure for the next few months has caused dozens of flight cancellations and complete chaos among passengers.

As dozens of major international airlines have been forced to cancel their Kathmandu flights, thousands of passengers have been left stranded, with some being told they can only be rebooked in a few weeks’ time at the earliest.

Given my own experience flying in and out of Kathmandu Airport, which is already chaotic and barely functional due to its outdated facilities under normal conditions, I can only imagine how bad the situation must be now.

It’s absolutely mind-boggling why the local authorities decided on such short notice to close Kathmandu Airport during the nighttime in what is prime tourist and trekking season in Nepal.

The situation is a great reminder to take out quality travel insurance that should cover a prolonged stay in Nepal or a last-minute ticket out of Kathmandu on another airline with available seats.