KATHMANDU, Oct 9: Following a spike in air travel demand due to damage to the road network caused by floods and landslides, the situation is gradually returning to normal.
Due to heavy rainfall on September 26 and 27, floods and landslides blocked major road networks in various parts of the country, leading to increased pressure on air travel as an alternative. However, as road networks for entering and exiting Kathmandu through various routes have started to resume operations in recent days, air travel demand is also returning to normal.
Air travel is currently operating normally at the country's busiest Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). Following the blockage of road routes in and out of the federal capital, Kathmandu, due to floods, landslides and other disaster events, there was a sharp increase in air traffic.
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Both domestic and international flights experienced high demand at the TIA. With the increase in flight frequency and passengers, the airport terminal was bustling with crowds.
On September 30, a total of 559 flights—both domestic and international– took place at the TIA in a single day. Through these flights, 35,704 passengers traveled by air. As the number of flights has gradually returned to normal with 500 operations for both domestic and international routes, the airport office has reported a gradual decline in the traffic of air passengers.
According to TIA spokesperson Rinji Sherpa, while the number of flights and passengers has increased, the level of crowd is not as high as it was a few days ago. “The demand for flights and the number of passengers remain the same, but there isn’t excessive pressure and crowd like there was in the past few days,” he said.
Spokesperson Sherpa said that there was a high demand for flights on September 29, 30, October 1, 2. However, the number of flights has decreased slightly in the past three days. The airport's records indicate that there were 299 flights on October 5, 318 flights on October 6 and 306 flights on October 7 excluding helicopter flights. The TIA office also stated that international flights are operating normally.
Although flight demand has decreased, passengers are still finding it challenging to obtain air tickets to reach their destinations easily. In response to passenger demand, some airlines have increased the number of flights to various destinations. Passengers are traveling to their villages even after paying high fares to celebrate Dashain festival.
With the arrival of Dashain festival, there is usually an increase in flight demand and passenger numbers. However, the pressure on air travel has further risen this year due to floods, landslides, and other disaster events that blocked road routes.
