International passenger traffic at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) crossed the five-million mark for the first time in 2025, driven largely by a surge in outbound travel by migrant workers and students, even as growth in tourist arrivals moderated.

Airport statistics show that TIA handled a record 5.04 million international passengers in 2025, up 1.64 percent year-on-year. On average, the airport processed 13,822 international passengers a day.

International traffic at the Kathmandu airport has increased fivefold over the past two-and-a-half decades. In 2000, TIA handled just 1.06 million international passengers.

Nepal welcomed 1.15 million foreign visitors in 2025, a marginal increase of around 1 percent compared to 2024, indicating a slowdown in the pace of tourist arrivals despite the overall rise in passenger movement.

Passenger numbers have grown sharply in the post-Covid period, largely due to the continued outflow of migrant workers and students. Analysts also point to a noticeable increase in family members travelling abroad to visit relatives working or studying overseas.

January 2026 arrivals remained strong, growing 15.7 percent year-on-year to 92,573 passengers.

However, with Nepal scheduled to hold a general election on March 5, travel trade entrepreneurs and airlines say they are watching the outlook cautiously.

“The international passenger growth is mainly due to the movement of migrant workers because the growth in tourist movement has slowed,” said Vijay Shrestha, spokesperson for Himalaya Airlines.

According to him, airlines are being cautious in their outlook as the election coincides with the peak tourist season.

Airline officials say bookings for the coming months do not look encouraging so far, suggesting that travel by Nepalis returning home to vote has not yet materialised as of the first week of February.

“We are expecting bookings to rise slightly over the next two weeks,” Shrestha said.

Before the pandemic, 2018 was the busiest year for TIA, with 4.38 million international passengers. Following the Covid slump, traffic rebounded strongly to 4.54 million in 2023, a jump of 30.18 percent from 2022. In 2024, international passenger numbers grew 9.29 percent to 4.96 million.

In terms of flight movements, the airport handled 34,600 international takeoffs and landings in 2025, up 4.06 percent from the previous year. On average, 95 international flights operated daily from TIA.

The airport, however, had to grapple with operational constraints due to infrastructure limitations. In November 2024, the TIA shut down for 10 hours a day, from 10 pm to 8 am, to facilitate construction of a new taxiway linking to the existing runway. The restricted operation continued until March 31, 2025.

Airport officials say capacity will increase substantially once the parallel taxiway project is completed by the end of 2026, enabling the airport to accommodate more flights and passengers.

Nepal Airlines emerged as the leading international carrier at TIA in 2025, flying 606,333 passengers. Despite simultaneous C-checks—comprehensive aircraft inspections—that grounded parts of its fleet, the national flag carrier recorded an 8.25 percent year-on-year growth in passenger numbers.

Before the pandemic, Nepal Airlines had carried a record 735,835 international passengers in 2019.

Air India ranked second in terms of passenger carriage, posting a robust 21.55 percent year-on-year growth and flying 499,743 passengers in 2025. Its low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, carried an additional 46,957 passengers.

The Nepal-Tibet joint venture Himalaya Airlines flew 474,987 passengers last year, a decline of 4.87 percent compared to 2024.

For the first time, Qatar Airways slipped to fourth position after seeing a 25 percent drop in passenger numbers. The carrier flew 446,825 passengers in 2025.

Travel trade entrepreneurs say Air India and Air India Express have captured market share previously dominated by Qatar Airways, largely due to higher frequency and cheaper fares. Air India operates six daily flights on the Kathmandu–Delhi sector, while Air India Express flies twice daily on the Kathmandu–Bengaluru route.

They also say the three-month period of reduced operating hours at TIA affected Qatar Airways disproportionately, as the airline had reduced its frequency to two daily flights from the usual five daily services.

Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo also posted negative growth amid increased competition from Air India. IndiGo flew 434,057 passengers in 2025, down 5.87 percent year-on-year.

Dubai-based low-cost carrier FlyDubai recorded a 3.37 percent increase in passenger numbers, flying 363,540 travellers. Air Arabia saw stronger growth, carrying 261,119 passengers, up 15.37 percent from 2024.

Thai Airways, which resumed flights to Nepal in November 2023 after suspending operations in April 2020 due to the pandemic, carried 248,025 passengers in 2025, an increase of 23.39 percent year-on-year.

Cathay Pacific recorded one of the sharpest increases, with passenger numbers rising 36.14 percent to 173,488 last year. Malaysia Airlines also posted moderate growth, flying 137,082 passengers in 2025, up 5.18 percent from the previous year.