Airport Overview

Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is the international airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, and it is located 6 km from the city centre, in the Kathmandu valley. The airport has one domestic and one international terminal. In 2019, the airport handled 4.14 million passengers, 4.70% decrease from 2018. Instrumental Flight Rule (IFR) + Visual Flight Rule (VFR) traffic is permitted.

Description and Contacts of Key Companies

For more information on airport companies’ contact details, please see the following link 4.1 Government Contact List and 4.5 Airport Companies Contact List. 

Information on some aviation service providers can be found at: AZ Freight information on Nepal.

Passenger and Cargo Performance Indicators

The cargo terminal at peak usage is very congested, especially the import section where 15 percent of the goods remain unclaimed. The Department of Customs have limited space to check the goods and make their assessments. TIA is the 4th largest border crossing point, with 9.54% share of total import value (ref: Dept of Customs, 2019/20).

Runways

*Runaway has been rehabilitated and strength is more than 54 PCN (pavement classification number). Also, the length runaway is extended by 300 metres in 2020 to the south and the length has yet to be declared.

Helipad

Helicopter operations are authorized in designated areas. TIA has designated east of runway 02-20 opposite to the taxiway no B and C as helicopter landing area.     

Airport Infrastructure Details

Airport Operating Details

Storage Facilities (Air Cargo Terminal)

CAAN has contracted the Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company Ltd (NTWCL) on a profit-sharing basis to operate the cargo complex specially to manage the warehousing space in clearly demarcated export and import section.

The Air Cargo Terminal at TIA is the only customs facility in the country where goods and parcels are processed for import and export via air internationally. The total capacity of the air cargo complex is 5430 sq. m, and it is divided by mesh wire barricade into equal half for imports and exports. 

Daily Capacity

Import section: 70-80 MT of goods flow per day from 40-45 international flights of which approximately 20 flights are cargo flights.

Export section: 75-100 MT of goods flow per day.

Handling Equipment

Nepal Airlines is responsible for ground handling of cargo at TIA. Indian Airlines and Thai Airways have ground handling equipment for their own needs, whereas Nepal Airlines does ground handling work for the other airlines and themselves.

Airfield Costs

Charges for aerodromes and air navigation services can be found in the following link: Aeronautical information Services-Nepal

Below is the summary of some of the major charges, with 13% VAT applicable:

An additional charge will be levied for each landing made outside of the published operation hours of the aerodrome based on time used, on hourly basis. For international flights, this amount is fixed as NRS 35,000 (excluding 13% VAT) per hour. Security charges at the rate of 10% of the landing fees as mentioned above shall be imposed.

Fuel Services Charges

TIA has a fuel depot with capacity to store around 7640 kilolitres (KL) of ATF and 161 KL of fuel standby with refuelers provided by the Nepal Oil Corporation.

Cargo Terminal Charges

For information on service rates and charges

Notes:

• In case of palletization and de-palletization of the goods NPR 55 per ton will be charged.
• In case of request from goods owner to manage goods beyond the office hours and in the holidays separate charge of NPR 220 per consignment will be levied.
• Demurrage charge will be as follows; for export after 7 days for 30 days NPR 0.22 per kg will be charged and from 31 days to 60 days NPR 1.92 per kg will be charged, for import after 7 days for 30 days NPR 2.20 per kg will be charged and from 31 days to 60 days NPR 2.25 per kg will be charged

Security

Three security forces of Nepal work in conjunction to provide security at TIA: Nepal Police has the responsibility to control access and conducts search of passengers and goods. The Nepal Army and Armed Police Force have the responsibility to control and secure the premises of the TIA. Also, presence of Nepal Army’s Kali Dal Battalion adjacent to the premise of TIA bolsters the security all hours of the day and night.