The Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has recorded an all-time high number of international travelers transiting through the country’s only international airport in 2023.
The data released by the TIA shows that the airport recorded an increase in passenger flow by 30.18 percent in the international flights segment, taking the number to 45,41,137 in 2023.
TIA General Manager Pratap Babu Tiwari said that this passenger count is the highest so far. According to the TIA Office, the number of international flights has also climbed to 31,460 in 2023, which is a 29.40 percent rise as compared to the previous year.
While the number of domestic passengers and flight landings have decreased, cargo traffic has increased compared to last year. According to Tiwari, altogether 86,91,443 passengers traveled through the airport in 2023 including domestic and international passengers. This is an increase from the count of 79,54,495 people who traveled by air in 2022.
Before Covid-19 pandemic, the airport served 71,90,912 passengers in 2018 and 73,27,31 passengers in 2019.
“The number of passengers has surged by 18 percent compared to the pre-Covid-19 pandemic and 9.2 percent compared to 2022,” said Tiwari.
On the other hand, the number of domestic air passengers decreased by 7.07 percent in 2023 as compared to the previous year. In the year 2023, a total of 41,50,326 passengers used domestic flights from the airport. During the review period, 96,989 domestic flights touched down on the airport.
Nepal has bilateral air service agreements with 41 countries. Currently, 30 airlines, including three Nepali airlines, are operating flights to 31 destinations in 16 countries from the TIA, according to the airport officials.
