Hundreds of tourists stranded in Lukla due to bad weather

As flights to and from the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, the gateway to Mt. Everest, could not be operated for the past three days due to adverse weather conditions, some 1500 tourists have been stranded. It has been raining continuously with cloudy skies and fog leading to very poor visibility in an around the Lukla Airport.

Assistant Chief District Officer of Solukhumbu district, Surendra Thapa has confirmed that flights have not been able to operate since Thursday due to continuous rain and low visibility. Although dozens of flights operated daily during this season all have been suspended now.

Due to the suspension of flights, hotels in and around Lukla and Namche Bazaar are full of visitors. Tourists who were preparing to return after visiting the Khumbu region are stuck in Lukla. Hotels and guesthouses in Lukla are over crowded.

Amrit Magar, in-charge of Tara Airlines Lukla, informed that around 1,500 tourists who booked tickets from the airline are stranded in Lukla.

Tourists, who had returned to Lukla after trekking to the Everest base camp three days ago are not finding any flight to return to Kathmandu, said officials.

According to officials at the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology in Kathmandu, there is still a possibility of heavy rain and snowfall. “There is a possibility of rain in the mountainous and hilly areas including of Koshi Province for the next couple of days,” they added.