Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has seen a noticeable increase in passenger traveler numbers while analyzing the data of the past 7 months of the year 2018 in both the domestic and international sectors. The increased number of tourists, students, and workers flying abroad has aided in the increase of international passengers figure.
Similarly, the preference of domestic travelers for air travel has increased the number of domestic passengers this year up to 16 percent in 7 months. According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), 39, 76,811 passengers have traveled different destinations from Kathmandu airport from January to July month of 2018. The number of passengers was 34, 28,795 in the same period of last year. In 2018, more than 5, 48,016 passengers have traveled through airway compared to 2017.
The international passengers traveled through TIA have grown by 12 percent. According to the Airport Immigration Department report, 24, 49,659 passengers have traveled to international destinations where only 21, 45,765 passengers traveled from January to July month, 2017. According to the department, during this period, 12, 43,757 numbers of passengers traveled from Nepal to different countries.
Similarly, the numbers of air passengers entering Nepal through TIA from various countries were 12, 5,102. 16 percent of passengers has increased in domestic flights. The number of passengers increased to 15, 27,172 in 7 months of 2018 from 12,83,030 passengers in 2017. With an increase in domestic and international air passengers, the flight frequency has also increased.
The flight frequency in international and national flights has increased by 4 percent. Nearly 71,729 flights have been operated from TIA from January to July 2018 whereas merely 68,818 were conducted in 2017.