Bad weather diverts Lukla-bound tourists to Phaplu

By Our Correspondent

Solukhumbu, Oct. 12: More than 2,000 tourists stranded in Ramechhap for five days have begun flying to Phaplu Airport. The tourists, unable to reach the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, Solukhumbu due to bad weather, have begun flying to Phaplu with plans to travel to Lukla by road.

On Monday alone, 250 people arrived in Phaplu via 16 flights. On Tuesday, a further 90 people landed on five flights, as per the Phaplu office of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

Meanwhile, around 400 tourists are stranded in Lukla. Bad weather has prevented them from flying out of the airport this week.

Previously, Tara, Sita and Summit Air used to conduct 30 regular and non-scheduled flights to Lukla. However, thick fog and low visibility has presently brought this number down to zero.