International flights resume at Bhairahawa after six months

By Our Correspondent

Siddharthanagar, Oct. 27: International flights have resumed at the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa after a gap of nearly six months, with a Thai AirAsia aircraft landing on Sunday afternoon carrying 17 passengers on board. 

The Airbus A320, which was scheduled to land at 12:15 pm only landed at 12:48 pm, marking the revival of international flights that had remained suspended since April.

According to the airport authority, the aircraft will return to Thailand on Sunday itself with 162 passengers. With the resumption, Thai AirAsia is set to operate scheduled international flights twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays, throughout the season.

Pratap Babu Tiwari, General Manager of Gautam Buddha International Airport, said the resumption of international flights has raised fresh hopes for the airport’s regular operation. 

He said that during the maintenance closure of Tribhuvan International Airport last April, Bhairahawa experienced a surge in air traffic, handling up to four flights a day. Within a period of five months, the airport recorded more than 200 flights and facilitated the movement of around 7,000 passengers. Since then, only a few chartered flights had been operating.