Tourists suffer after flight disruption

Lukla, April 28: Tourists have been suffering after the flight disruption owing to adverse weather in Solukhumbu district for some days. Those waiting flights to Kathmandu from Tenjing Hillary Airport were stranded as the airport could not witness planes due to poor visibility. Thick haze has affected visibility. Tourist guides have said the foreign visitors were at receiving end of adverse weather. A guide Angdanu Sherpa informed that tourists were waiting for the planes for two days, but to no avail. Proprietor of Paradise Lodge, Dawafuti Sherpa, said the foreign visitors were stranded at Lukla with disruption in air service. According to airport chief Umesh Panthi, the airport, conducting as many as 54 flights in a day, did not witness any flight on Friday. Only few flights were operated on Saturday. However, helicopters were making regular flights. Five-km visibility is required to conduct flights at Tenjing Hillary Airport. More than 300 flights, including helicopter’s, are conducted here, the airport added. It is one of the most used airports by the tourists heading to the Sagarmatha region.