Flights Halted At Kathmandu Airport After Airfield Lighting Glitch

Flight operations at Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport have been halted following a problem in the airfield lighting system, an airport official confirmed.

As per the spokesperson of the Himalayan nation’s only operating international airport, a short circuit was reported on Saturday evening, halting flight movements.

“Problem has been reported in the airfield lighting system of the runway. At least five flights are on hold as of now. All arrival and departure flights, including domestic and international, have been delayed. The problem was detected from 5:30 PM (Local Time),” Renji Sherpa, spokesperson for TIA, confirmed to ANI over the phone.

Seeping of rainwater into the wire lanes of the runway lights might have resulted in the short circuit, leading to the halt in airport operations, the officials have suspected.

With the problem reported, flights from Dubai (Fly Dubai), Qatar (Qatar Airways) and Korea (Korean Airways) were kept on hold at Simara. With a shortage of fuel on board, the Korean Airways aircraft was diverted to New Delhi, India.

A domestic flight from Janakpur, operated by domestic Buddha Air, which was kept on hold over the holding zone of Simara, was returned back to Janakpur.

With the problem in the lighting system, the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport is reported to have gone dark. TIA has a table-top runway with a length of 3,350 metres.

“Repair works are underway,” Sherpa confirmed.

Runway lighting refers to a system of lights installed on and around an airport runway to guide aircraft during low visibility, especially at night. These lights mark the runway’s edges, centreline, and threshold, providing visual cues for pilots during takeoff, landing, and taxiing. (ANI)