About 150 tourist buses serving the Pokhara-Kathmandu route have been left idle after a landslide at Krishnabhir blocked the Prithvi Highway, while passenger traffic on the Pokhara-Kathmandu air route has nearly tripled.

Jashoda Subedi, spokesperson for Pokhara International Airport, said 1,300 passengers travelled between Pokhara and Kathmandu on August 25. Air traffic surged after floods in the Bhotekoshi river on August 26 triggered erosion along the Trishuli River, damaging the Prithvi Highway at Krishnabhir and disrupting road travel.

On Friday, more than 3,500 passengers travelled between Pokhara and Kathmandu on 28 Buddha Air flights, 18 Yeti Airlines flights and four flights operated by Shree Airlines.

“Passenger loads had fallen after the Prithvi Highway improved, so airlines would merge flights or operate with relatively few passengers,” Subedi said. “Now occupancy has risen sharply. Flights are packed, and tickets are difficult to get.”

Passenger traffic on the route has reached as many as 4,400 a day during peak periods such as Dashain and New Year, according to airport records.

The tourist bus park at Mustang Chowk in Pokhara, normally busy from early morning until late at night, is now largely deserted.

Buddhi Sagar Paudel, an employee at the Mustang Chowk branch of Prithvi Highway Bus Operators’ Company, said 24 buses used to leave for Kathmandu in the morning and another eight at night. Fourteen buses also departed from Prithvi Chowk, eight from Lamachaur, two from Hemja and two from Zero Kilometre.

Only tourist buses travelling to Chitwan and Lumbini are currently operating, he said.

The Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) Gandaki chapter on Saturday inspected an alternative route that could bypass Krishnabhir.

The route would involve crossing a suspension bridge from Krishnabhir to Jamire, travelling about 11 kilometres by road to reach Benighat, and then continuing towards Kathmandu, said Sangeeta Paudel, chair of NATTA Gandaki.

Under one option being studied, tourist buses from Pokhara would carry passengers to Krishnabhir. Passengers would then walk across the suspension bridge to Jamire, travel by jeep for about 11 kilometres to Benighat and transfer to tourist buses arriving from Kathmandu.

“A diversion track is currently being built at Krishnabhir, and we have been told it will be operational within a week,” Sangeeta said. “But it is unclear how long it will withstand traffic once it opens. If the main road remains unusable for a long period, the Jamire-Benighat route could be an alternative.”

The tourism industry is looking for alternatives because large vehicles cannot use the Tribhuvan Highway to travel from Hetauda towards Naubise, she said.

The disruption has directly affected nearly 1,000 tourism businesses and workers, Poudel said.

“This is happening just as the tourist season is beginning, so it is likely to have an impact on tourism in Pokhara,” she said.

Although about 150 tourist buses normally operate between Pokhara and Kathmandu, their suspension has also reduced passenger numbers for smaller and medium-sized tourist vehicles, she said.