Kathmandu airport closed, flights return

Several flights of Indian carriers, carrying friends and family members of the people stranded in the quake-struck Kathmandu, could not land at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Sunday after the air traffic control (ATC) staff at Nepal's only international airport were evacuated in the wake of the aftershocks.

A Spice Jet flight SG041, from Delhi to Kathmandu, returned to Delhi and was waiting for ground clearance at 3.20 p.m. to take off again for Kathmandu here.

A Jet Airways flight NW266 from Mumbai to Kathmandu was diverted to Lucknow while its flights NW264 and NW 263 operated as per schedule and returned to Delhi at 11.30 a.m.

An Indigo flight 6E31, on which NDRF Director General (DG) O.P. Singh was travelling, was diverted and returned to Delhi.

Similarly, while a return flight of Air India landed in Delhi in the morning, two others of the same carrier were diverted back to India.

All the airlines said their operations would resume once the services at Kathmandu's TIA became normal.

Among the international flights which failed to land at Kathmandu airport was Qatar Airway's QTR646, Dragon Airlines' HDA 104, Air China's CA408 ans Air Asia's XAX/192.

"The Kathmandu airport has been closed till 4 p.m. following fresh tremors in Nepal (on Sunday). The ATC personnel at the airport were evacuated because of the aftershocks," said an official of SpiceJet.

"Flight operations to Kathmandu have been kept on hold till 4 p.m. due to fresh tremors in Nepal," he said.