AviatDataTribhuvan International Airport KTM / VNKT
Kathmandu · Nepal · Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) — the state civil aviation regulator also directly owns and operates Nepal's international and domestic aerodromes, including TIA, as Nepal's sole full international gateway
9.8Mpax · 2025
Limited hoursInternational · customs & immigrationJet A-1
ICAO / IATAVNKT / KTM
OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) — the state civil aviation regulator also directly owns and operates Nepal's international and domestic aerodromes, including TIA, as Nepal's sole full international gateway
Coordinates27.6966°N, 85.3591°E
Elevation4,390 ft · 1,338 m
Time zoneNPT (UTC+5:45, no DST)
Passengers / yr9,770,000 (2025)
CustomsYes
Border controlYes
SchengenNo
FuelJet A-1
Bonded—
AIP referenceVNKT — AIP Nepal AD 2.VNKT, published by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN)
Operating hoursNot H24. Confirmed pattern (Kathmandu Post, Feb 2025): nightly construction closures of 22:00-08:00 were in force from November 2024, narrowed to 23:00-07:00 by February 2025, tied to a parallel-taxiway project CAAN expects to complete by end of 2026 — these are NOTAM'd works closures layered on top of the normal schedule, not a fixed permanent curfew. Any specific daily-hours figure should be treated as provisional; check current NOTAMs before night-ops planning.
TerminalsSeparate international and domestic terminals (~500 m apart) plus a VIP terminal; international terminal rated ~1,350 departing pax/hour (peaks near 2,200), domestic ~765 pax/hour — both above their original design throughput given actual traffic. CAAN is building a new international terminal (partly ADB-financed) and plans to repurpose the current international terminal for domestic use once it opens; specific cost, gate-count and capacity figures reported in secondary press vary and are not independently confirmed here.
Runways (1)
- 02/20 · 3,350 m / 10,991 ft · 45 m wide · Asphalt · ILS None — no ILS, due to surrounding mountainous terrain. RNP AR APCH (RF turns, dual GNSS, RNP 0.3) has served Runway 02 since 2012; the matching RNP AR APCH for Runway 20, plus RNP AR departures for both ends, entered service in 2022 (CAAN/NAVBLUE, per Airbus). Conventional VOR/DME and NDB procedures, plus 3° PAPI, remain available on both ends as backup.
Airport contact
Nepal's sole international air gateway and by far its busiest airport, handling a record 9.77 million passengers in 2025 (CAAN) against a designed capacity of roughly 8 million — congestion, a single tabletop-terrain runway with no ILS (RNP AR-only approaches), and recurring night construction closures are standing operational constraints for planners. The runway's earlier safety-area shortfall (no proper overrun protection at the north end) was resolved by a 2018-2020 extension project that established 300 m runway end safety areas at both ends (Kathmandu Post); no RESA exemption is currently documented. Hub base for Nepal Airlines, Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Himalaya Airlines, Shree Airlines, Saurya Airlines, Sita Air and Tara Air; Nepal has opened Gautam Buddha International (Bhairahawa) and Pokhara International as secondary international airports since 2022-2023 to help decentralize traffic while TIA's own expansion (new international terminal, eventual further phases) proceeds.
Services
Available
On request / PPR
Seasonal / ageing
Unconfirmed / not listed
Ground handling
Available · 3 providers
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)
Primary ramp/passenger ground handler at Tribhuvan International Airport for most scheduled foreign and domestic carriers (e.g. formal ground-handling agreement with Thai Airways effective 29 Oct 2023, with 80 pieces of GSE handed over that December). CAAN voted on 1 Dec 2023 to end NAC's ground-handling monopoly and move the service to competitive bidding (not 2022), but NAC has continued to hold and perform handling work into 2026 - July 2026 press coverage of NAC ramp/baggage staff being issued pocketless uniforms to curb theft confirms ongoing live ramp operations. Note: Nepali business-press social accounts report a separate ~NPR 91-crore NAC ground-handling subcontract awarded to a company called Metter Trading around May 2026; the scope of that subcontract relative to NAC's own handling role is unconfirmed.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Trans Himalaya Aviation Pvt. Ltd.
Independent commercial ground-handling company at VNKT/TIA for global private charter, VIP and air-ambulance flights, confirmed via its own site (himalayaaviation.org) as a Nepal ground-handling provider recognised by Nepal Airlines Corporation and CAAN for service quality.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Across Aviation Service
Kathmandu-based (Thamel) aviation company, part of the Across World Travel / Asia Nepal Holiday group, self-described online as an airline agent for charter flights and ground-handling service provider at VNKT/TIA that also offers ground-handling/cabin-crew training. Business listings confirm the company exists and is categorised as an 'airline industry service' but do not independently corroborate the specific ground-handling/training claims. Contact details not confirmed.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Aircraft fuel
Available
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC)
State petroleum monopoly and sole Jet A-1/aviation-fuel supplier in Nepal; operates the aviation fuel depot at Sinamangal serving Tribhuvan International Airport and functions as the into-plane fuelling operator at KTM. Confirmed via NOC's own site and 2025-26 press coverage of NOC's plan to relocate the roughly 50-year-old Sinamangal depot (currently supplying several hundred kilolitres of jet fuel daily) to a new, safer site.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
De-icing
Not listed
Part-145 line maintenance
Available
Siris Aircraft MRO (SAMRO)
Nepal's first private/independent CAAN-approved Maintenance Organisation, based at TIA, approved for line and daily inspection and rectification of minor defects; since May 2023 partners with Air Works (India) to provide international line maintenance (transit/daily/weekly checks) for Boeing 737/767/777/787 and Airbus A319-family aircraft, confirmed via Air Works' own press release and multiple aviation-trade outlets, with the first customer confirmed by ET Infra as Kuwait Airways (a Middle Eastern carrier).
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Part-145 base maintenance
Available · 2 providers
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)
Operates its own large maintenance hangar between the international and domestic terminals at TIA and holds a CAAN Part-145 approval, but that approval historically covered NAC's Chinese-made MA60/DHC6/Y12E turboprops - all of which NAC grounded in 2020 and later auctioned off, so they are no longer in the fleet. NAC's current mainline aircraft (Airbus A320/A330, Boeing 757) have needed externally tendered, overseas heavy-check overhauls; 2026 press reports describe NAC's A330 overhaul tender failing twice and a resulting wide-body grounding risk. Whether the TIA hangar itself still performs base/heavy maintenance on the current fleet is therefore unconfirmed; third-party/foreign-carrier heavy work is also unconfirmed.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Buddha Air
Self-handled, Buddha Air: operates its own closed-door maintenance hangar at TIA (opened April 2012), CAAN Part-145 certified, servicing its own ATR and Beechcraft fleet; confirmed via Buddha Air's own site and contemporaneous Nepali press coverage (Nepali Times, myRepublica, ShareSansar) of the 2012 hangar opening.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Component shops & overhaul
Not listed
Flight catering
Available
The Soaltee Kathmandu, Autograph Collection - Flight Kitchen (LSG Sky Chefs franchise)
Nepal's flight-kitchen operator, run by the Soaltee hotel group under a technical/franchise agreement with LSG Sky Chefs; produces roughly 1,800 airline meals/day for carriers including Qatar Airways, Etihad, Gulf Air, China Southern and Nepal Airlines. The parent hotel was rebranded from Soaltee Crowne Plaza to The Soaltee Kathmandu in May 2021 and then joined Marriott's Autograph Collection in June 2025. The flight kitchen's Halal-compliance certification was first reported in January 2011 (awarded December 2010) rather than December 2018; press coverage in mid-2026 (halalkosher.com) describes a subsequent re-audit/recertification.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Aircraft cleaning
Unconfirmed
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)
Cabin cleaning and lavatory/water servicing is understood to be bundled into NAC's standard ramp/turnaround ground-handling contract at TIA, as is typical where no independent cabin-cleaning contractor is documented; no dedicated cleaning company found operating separately at KTM.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Ground support equipment
Unconfirmed
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)
Maintains a Ground Support Department (GrSD) within its Aircraft Maintenance Service (recruits a dedicated Ground Equipment Officer) that operates/maintains the tugs, GPUs, belt-loaders etc. used in its ramp handling at TIA; fleet details not publicly disclosed.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Cargo handling
Available · 2 providers
Trans Himalaya Aviation Pvt. Ltd.
Lists aircraft cargo handling among its TIA services for charter/general-aviation cargo movements; scope limited to non-scheduled/charter traffic, on request.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) - TIA Air Cargo Complex (TIACAO)
Airport operator provides the cargo terminal function through the Tribhuvan International Airport Cargo Office (TIACAO): a centralised Air Cargo Complex of 10,200 sqm (import/export split by mesh-wire barricade), designed for 24,000t export/12,000t import capacity with weighing, racking and forklift equipment (confirmed via airport-technology.com); no cold-storage facility documented. Update: on 18 Aug 2026 TIACAO signed a 5-year agreement with the state-owned Nepal Transit & Warehousing Company Ltd (NTWCL) for cargo-warehouse operations and management at TIA (confirmed via tiairport.com.np and nepaltransit.gov.np), so day-to-day warehouse operation has moved from direct CAAN self-operation to NTWCL under this agreement.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Aviation security
Available
Nepal Police - Tribhuvan Airport Security Office
In-house/government-provided aviation security: Nepal Police's Airport Security Office (confirmed via ktmvalley.nepalpolice.gov.np) handles airside/landside access control and passenger, baggage, cargo and vehicle screening at TIA under CAAN's Civil Aviation Security Rules 2016 (Nepal Army covers perimeter/external security); 2025-26 press reports describe both ongoing reliance on older single-view X-ray equipment and newer AI-based risk-screening measures being layered on since mid-2026.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Passenger & crew transport
On request
Trans Himalaya Aviation Pvt. Ltd.
Offers airport transportation for the passengers/crews of the charter and VIP flights it handles at TIA.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Flight support
Available · 2 providers
Trans Himalaya Aviation Pvt. Ltd.
Provides VIP flight support and charter-flight operational coordination (permits/handling arrangement) for aircraft transiting or based at TIA Kathmandu.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Nepal Aviation Services
Kathmandu-based (Sanepa Chowk, Lalitpur - confirmed via nepalaviation.com) commercial aviation service agency offering 24/7 trip-support at VNKT/TIA: landing/overflying permits, fuel arrangement, ground-handling coordination, catering and hotel arrangement for international, private and charter flights.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Hotel & travel
Available · 3 providers
Hyatt Regency Kathmandu
Five-star hotel ~4km from TIA, part of Hyatt's chain-wide airline-crew-rate program; independent guest reviews describe it hosting airline crew stays (e.g. an 'Air Arabia Stay' review referencing per-crew-member room numbering), and it is named on a Nepal-based flight-support agency's crew-hotel list for KTM operations. Specific airline layover contracts not independently confirmed.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
The Soaltee Kathmandu, Autograph Collection (formerly Soaltee Crowne Plaza)
Legacy five-star Kathmandu hotel dating to 1966; rebranded from Soaltee Crowne Plaza to The Soaltee Kathmandu in May 2021, then became the first South Asian Autograph Collection property under Marriott in June 2025 (confirmed via PR Newswire, Nepali Times, TTR Weekly). Named on a Nepal-based flight-support agency's crew-hotel list for KTM operations; the same property group also runs Nepal's LSG Sky Chefs flight-kitchen franchise. Specific airline layover contracts not independently confirmed.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Radisson Hotel Kathmandu
Operates the landside Executive Lounge at TIA's International Terminal; independent lounge reviews (e.g. JakartaPotato, Live and Let's Fly) confirm it functions as the contract business-class lounge for Nepal Airlines passengers. Also part of Radisson's airline-crew-rate program and named on a Nepal-based flight-support agency's crew-hotel list for KTM. Specific crew-contract terms not independently confirmed.
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Verified 3 weeks ago · unconfirmed source