Flights from Delhi to Kathmandu Disrupted Amid Protests, Two Aircraft Forced to Turn Back
New Delhi. Air travel between New Delhi and Kathmandu faced major disruptions on Tuesday due to ongoing anti-government protests in Nepal. The situation was so tense that two aircraft, after entering Kathmandu’s airspace, were unable to land at Tribhuvan International Airport and instead had to return without completing their journey.
The first incident occurred with IndiGo flight 6E 1153, which departed from New Delhi at 11:31 a.m. The aircraft reached Kathmandu airspace on schedule but, after circling twice without receiving a satisfactory response from Air Traffic Control (ATC), the pilot decided it was safer to turn back. During the return, with clearance from Lucknow ATC, the flight made a safe landing at Lucknow Airport instead of proceeding back to Delhi.
Shortly after, at 11:53 a.m., an Air India flight also took off for Kathmandu. The plane reached Nepalese airspace on time, but the pilot noticed smoke rising near the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport. Considering the risk, the pilot opted to abandon the landing attempt and turned the aircraft back to New Delhi. The flight eventually landed safely at IGI Airport, much to the relief of passengers.
Following these back-to-back incidents, airlines decided to cancel further flights to Kathmandu for the day. Among the canceled flights were Air India’s AI 211 and AI 2219, as well as IndiGo’s 6E 1155. In addition, flights operated by Nepal Airlines and Royal Airlines were also suspended.
