KATHMANDU, March 4: Aviation flights were disrupted on Thursday due to a mechanical test flight (calibration flight) for the runway test at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). Flights were held in the sky for a long time while some domestic flights were canceled. Another calibration flight at TIA is scheduled for today as well. The test flight is also expected to disrupt air services at TIA today.
On Thursday, the calibration flight was conducted at 12 PM which disrupted air traffic for two hours.
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A Qatar Airways flight had to fly over Lalitpur more than 17 times as an Aero Thai aircraft was conducting the test at the TIA.
Another aircraft of Qatar Airways was also kept on hold when the calibration test was being conducted. Similarly, an aircraft of Vistara Airlines on its way to Nepal from India was also kept on hold. This is the first time a calibration flight was conducted with mechanical equipment after the expansion of TIA’s runway.
Passengers who arrived at the airport to catch their flights were left confused after the sudden issuance of NOTAM without prior notice. The departure hall of TIA was filled with passengers. Airport Spokesperson Teknath Sitaula, however, claimed that the ships coming from foreign countries were kept on hold due to strong winds rather than NOTAM. Due to the NOTAM, the domestic Guna Air canceled two flights, while Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines among others merged their flights.
Another calibration flight at TIA is scheduled for today as well. The test flight is also expected to disrupt air services at TIA today.
