The main Nepalese gateway of Kathmandu extended operating hours from 18,5 to 21 hours per day as of May 20, 2018, in a bid to alleviate congestion and increase traffic to the airport, My Republica has reported.
The airport is now closed only between 0300L and 0600L (2115Z-0015Z). Before the change, it used to close at 0030L (1845Z).
According to the report, Qatar Airways and Wataniya Airways have already expressed interest in serving the airport during the night, benefitting from the longer operating hours. The Qatari carrier currently operates to Kathmandu 28x weekly out of Doha Hamad International, while the Kuwaiti airline operates to Kathmandu on a daily basis, the ch-aviation capacity module shows.
The airport plans to extend operating hours to 24 hours a day in the near future.
The Nepalese gateway is suffering from capacity bottlenecks which will only be fully solved once the new airport in Nijgadh opens to traffic. The new facility was originally scheduled to open by the end of 2018, but as of June 2018, the construction works have not started yet.
