Kathmandu, August 27

Regular flights at Tribhuvan International Airport will witness frequent disruption from Tuesday onwards, for at least the next few days, due to the arrival and departure of VIPs participating in the fourth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation summit, scheduled to begin in the capital from Thursday.

As dignitaries from BIMSTEC nations will start arriving in Kathmandu from Tuesday itself, regular flight movement at TIA will be halted completely for up to two hours a day during their arrival, informed Utsav Kharel, chief of the Terminal Management Division at TIA.

As per TIA, normal flights will be suspended for almost half an hour starting at 2:30 pm as Myanmar President Win Myint arrives at 2.45pm on Tuesday. Scheduled flights will be suspended for almost half an hour even on Wednesday, between 7:45 am and 8:15 am and 2:15 pm and 2:45 pm when Bhutan’s chief justice and president of Sri Lanka arrive, respectively.

While Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu at 2:35 pm on Wednesday, Bhutan’s Chief Justice and Chief Adviser of the Interim Government Tshering Wangchuk will land in Kathmandu at 8:00 am on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, TIA has announced it will suspend all regular flights for two hours — between 8:15 am and 10:15 am — on Thursday when executive heads of India, Bangladesh and Thailand arrive. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Kathmandu at 8:30 am on Thursday, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha will land at 9:15 am and 10:15 am, respectively, on Thursday.

Kharel said normal flight routine will also be disturbed for 20 to 30 minutes around the time of these dignitaries’ departure. As per schedule, Bangladeshi PM and Myanmar president will depart on Friday at 11:00 am and 4:00 pm, respectively.

The time for the departure of the Indian PM is not yet fixed, but the Lankan prez will return at 3:35 pm on Sept 2.