The landing of aircraft from the point (two-zero) on the north side of the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been temporarily banned for three months from today. The flights will continue as usual.
Moving forward, aircraft will only be permitted to land from the southern point of the runway (Runway 02). Consequently, there may be increased pressure on the southern runway in the coming days.
Pratap Babu Tiwari, general manager of TIA, stated that the prohibition on landing from Runway 02 towards Bauddha commenced today due to the ongoing construction and expansion of the taxiway to the north as part of airport infrastructure improvements. This will affect mountain flights and domestic flights, with the ban expected to last about three months.
Tiwari further stated that after completing the work on the north side, similar construction will take place on the south side to enhance the airport’s capacity.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has been implementing various projects outlined in the master plan for the infrastructure improvement of Tribhuvan International Airport from 2010 to 2028. Since 2009, ADB has supported the initial phase of capacity enhancement at TIA through the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project (ATCEP) in alignment with the master plan.
The ongoing projects under ATCEP include extending the northern portion of the parallel taxiway, expanding the apron area for passenger boarding/disembarkation and baggage handling, and extending the runway by 300 meters in the southern part.
