KATHMANDU: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has become a veritable hell-hole for passengers, thanks to lack of amenities. As many as 600 passengers are crammed in a tiny hall before boarding their flights. Consider the scene at 2:15 this afternoon. All seats in the hall were occupied. More than 50 passengers were squatting on the floor; another 100 were standing even as around 50 were in queue to board their flights. The daily travails are a clear indication of severe infrastructure inadequacy At best, the hall can seat 225 passengers, and altogether accommodate 300 people. No wonder, the passengers are left high and dry before they board their flights. Mahendra Yakso, who was about to catch his flight for Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia, said he felt “claustrophobic in these uncomfortable surroundings”. “I’ve never experienced this kind of chaos at an international airport,” he added. Several sub-continental and West Asian airlines operate flights between 2:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon. Each of these flights has a seating capacity between 150 and 200 plus. As per the rule, all passengers are expected to reach TIA a good one and half hours before boarding. As the footfall increases during rush hour in the peak season, the airport’s stretched infrastructure simply gives away. Madhu Gupta, a Jetlite passenger, who was flying to New Delhi, said that she was aghast at the sorry state of affairs. A loader working for Nepal Airlines Corporation, the state-run carrier, echoed Gupta. “We’re also suffering day in and day out. But nobody cares for us,” he said. Hygiene, too, has gone for a toss. Passengers complained of overpowering stench that hung heavy in the air due to dirty washrooms. Dinesh Prasad Shrestha, manager, TIA, said that plans were afoot to expand the holding area. “We’re trying to do our best despite the limited resources at our disposal,” he maintained. The UML-led government has, meanwhile, decided to come up with a short-term plan to ramp up the facilities, and make National Air Transport Facilitation Committee more pro-active to address passengers and international airline operators’ grievances. Till the revamp translates to reality, tragedies, like the one that occurred last Friday, would continue to embarrass the authorities. Yang Chien Shia, a Taiwanese national, died on the airport premises of cardiac arrest on November 13. Though doctors cited the cause of her death as natural in the post-mortem report, eyewitnesses recounted the grim reality. She collapsed and breathed her last next to the boarding gate. There was no medical help at hand, a pointer to TIA officials’ callousness as far as passengers’ safety and security is concerned.