KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 13

The flights to and from Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, which had been halted for five days due to bad weather, has resumed from today.

According to Dwarika Achami, head of Tenzing-Hillary Airport, as the weather cleared up from today morning, 23 flights of fixed wing aircraft were conducted from Ramechhap while two flights were operated in the Kathmandu-Lukla sector.

'As the weather was clear today, the flight to Lukla airport was started from 6:00am. Thus, Tara Air, Summit Air and Sita Air operated altogether 25 flights to Lukla,' said Achami According to him, Tara Air operated 12 flights, Summit Air operated 10 and Sita Air operated three flights to Lukla today. 'Sita Air was unable to conduct more flights after its aircraft had to be grounded at Ramechhap for maintenance following a technical glitch.'

Meanwhile, 50 helicopter flights had been conducted to Lukla from Kathmandu and Ramechhap, Achami informed.

Autumn is busiest time of the year for Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla as it is the gateway to Everest region.

In a bid to reduce air traffic congestion at Tribhuvan International Airport, regular flights to Lukla from Kathmandu have been shifted to Manthali since October 1. Summit Air, Tara Air, and Sita Air have been operating regular flights to Lukla from Manthali.

Hundreds of tourists were stranded in Ramechhap after Ramechhap-Lukla flights were halted due to the adverse weather.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 14, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.