Pokhara Airport

Pokhara Airport is relatively small and acts as a regional airport for central Pokhara in Nepal. It is operated by the government department of ‘Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal’ and was established on July 4, 1958. It is from here that you can get regular connecting flights to such places as the city of Kathmandu and Jomsom. Warning: if you wish to travel to Manang you will have to establish when the exact seasonal connections are available so as not to be disappointed.

Pokhara Airport in Nepal is considered to be one of the busiest domestic airports in Nepal in terms of aircraft movement, with an increase of 64.5% since last year. Authorities also noted an increase in the movement of passengers where a surge of 26.7% was noted. As a result, Pokhara Airport is rated as the second busiest domestic airport after the Biratnagar Airport. In the future Pokhara could become the top domestic airport in the country should CAAN’s plans go through for a revised new airport.

There are three main airlines which are housed at Pokhara Airport. They are: Cosmic Air (which flies to Jomsom and Kathmandu), Royal Nepal and Yeti Airlines (which both fly directly to Kathmandu). Most of the planes here are relatively small but regardless of this accidents can still occur. One such accident did occur on November 6, 1997, when a ‘Necon Air Avro 748 – 100 was arriving back from Kathmandu. Upon landing at the Pokhara Airport its hydraulic system began to fail causing it to run off the runway. The pilot made an attempt to steer the plane back on course but just a couple of meters along the plane hit into a ramp and struck a similar Avro 748. Thankfully there were no fatalities amongst the 4 crew members and 44 passengers on board.

Some interesting facts about Pokhara Airport: The shortest flight available within Nepal is about 43 miles away while the longest flight that can possibly be taken is about 91 miles. It is estimated that approximately 2632 passengers fly out of Pokhara, Nepal, every week which then amounts to over 112 flights per week with an average of 44 passengers on board.