Pokhara Airport (domestic)
Pokhara Airport पोखरा विमानस्थल | |||||||||||
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 Pokhara Airport in 2019 | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of Nepal | ||||||||||
| Operator | Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal | ||||||||||
| Serves | Pokhara, Nepal | ||||||||||
| Focus city for | |||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 2,712 ft / 827 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 28°12′03″N 083°58′55″E / 28.20083°N 83.98194°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  Pokhara Airport Location of airport in Nepal  Pokhara Airport Pokhara Airport (Nepal) | |||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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Pokhara Airport (Nepali: पोखरा विमानस्थल, IATA: VNPK) is a domestic airport serving Pokhara in Nepal. Pokhara Airport will be gradually replaced by Nepal's third international airport, Pokhara International Airport, in 2023.[4] While most operations were transferred to the new airport on 1 January 2023, the STOL (short takeoff and landing) operations to Jomsom are still operated from this airport.[5]
History
[edit]The airport was established on 4 July 1958 by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Until the 2010s, it offered regular connections to Kathmandu and Jomsom; and seasonal connections to Manang. In 2011 Buddha Air, a private Nepali airline, began international flights from Pokhara to Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, India,[6] and announced plans to fly to New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport in the future.[7] However these international flights were discontinued soon after.
In the late 2010s, Pokhara Airport became Nepal's second domestic hub for air travel.[8]
Facilities
[edit]The apron of the airport is relatively small and can only handle eight propeller planes at a time. Pokhara Airport is a diversion airport for the country's main airport in Kathmandu in times of problems such as fog. Due to a short runway and crowded apron, flights must often be re-diverted to third airports with even shorter runways.[9]
Airlines and destinations
[edit]| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Sita Air | Jomsom, Kathmandu[10] |
| Summit Air | Jomsom |
| Tara Air | Jomsom[11] |
Several Ultralight aviation companies offer recreational and sightseeing flights from Pokhara Airport.[12]
Statistics
[edit] | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Incidents and accidents
[edit]- On 6 November 1997, a Necon Air Avro 748-100 had a hydraulic failure after landing from a flight from Kathmandu Airport. The pilot attempted to steer the plane, but it hit a stationary Hawker Siddeley HS 748. There were no fatalities among the four crew members and 44 passengers.[13]
- On 22 August 2002, a Shangri-La Air Twin Otter aircraft, on a flight from Jomsom to Pokhara, crashed into a hill that was under complete cloud cover following three days of continuous rain. All three crew and 15 passengers were killed.[14]
- On 16 February 2014, Nepal Airlines Flight 183 crashed shortly after taking off for a flight Pokhara to Jumla Airport. The crash in bad weather killed all the 18 on board.[15]
- On 15 January 2023, Yeti Airlines Flight 691 crashed in the vicinity the airfield in Gharipatan, Pokhara, before landing at Pokhara International Airport from Kathmandu Airport. There were no survivors.
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Pokhara Airport Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine at Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, accessed 4 March 2011
- ^ "Airport information for VNPK". World Aero Data. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Data current as of October 2006. Source: DAFIF. - ^ Airport information for PKR at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- ^ Lin, Ziyu. "With new airport, Pokhara waits for takeoff - Nation - Nepali Times". archive.nepalitimes.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ Pokharel, Santosh (22 December 2022). "Pokhara's Old Airport to Remain Functional as CAAN Prepares to Launch Int'l Airport". República. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ "Buddha Air Lucknow flight" Archived 19 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, buddhaair.com, accessed 28 September 2012.
- ^ "Buddha Air plans to start Pokhara-New Delhi flight" Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, "Tour Nepal", accessed 28 September 2012.
- ^ "Pokhara Airport" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority Nepal.
- ^ "Aircraft parking at Pokhara Airport woefully inadequate". Republica. 27 March 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014.
- ^ "Schedule". Sita Air. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ Republica. "Pokhara Airport resumes flight service". My Republica. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ "Civil Aviation Report 2018" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Avro 748-106 Srs. 1A". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
- ^ Aviation Safety Network retrieved 19 November 2006
- ^ Adhikari, Deepak (18 February 2014). "Nepal plane crash in bad weather killed all 18 on board". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
External links
[edit]
- Pokhara flights schedule
- Ultralight Flight from Pokhara Airport
- Accident history for PKR at Aviation Safety Network
