Five airports closed as poor weather disrupts Nepal's domestic flights

Poor weather and reduced visibility disrupted domestic air travel across Nepal on Friday, forcing five airports to close, according to The Kathmandu Post. Officials at Tribhuvan International Airport said no flights could operate from Bharatpur, Pokhara, Lukla, Simara and Surkhet from early in the day. At the Kathmandu airport itself, flights continued under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), but services that rely on Visual Flight Rules (VFR) were affected by the low visibility. Airport officials said visibility stood at around 3 kilometres at 6am and had not changed much by 10am. Flights to Lukla were among the worst affected, and tourists along with other passengers were left waiting at the Kathmandu airport. Sita Air cancelled every one of its Friday flights, whereas Tara Air and Summit Air held off, waiting for the weather to improve before flying to Lukla. The domestic schedule listed 134 departures for Friday: Buddha Air had 58, Yeti Airlines 27, Shree Airlines 23, Summit Air and Tara Air ten each, Sita Air four and Nepal Airlines two. The airport authority warned that some flights could be cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, and passengers were advised to confirm their flight status with their airline or the airport before setting out.