The increased joint military operations by the US and Israel in Iran have had an impact on Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Kathmandu.

Santusta Kumar Basnet, spokesperson at the airport, said that international flight traffic and passenger numbers in Kathmandu have declined sharply since February 28 as nine Gulf countries closed their skies.

International flight traffic, which was stable in the previous days, has deteriorated since the day of the attack on Iran. On February 27, there were 106 international flights, including 54 departures and 52 arrivals, but on February 28, there were only 90 flights, including 49 arrivals and 41 departures. He stated that flight operations have declined notably since February 28.

“There have been no more than 74 international flights since Saturday, February 28,” a TIA official said.

The passenger traffic data also shows a similar situation. On February 27, 16,902 passengers were flown in and out of Kathmandu. Of these, 8,115 were going abroad from Kathmandu, and 8,787 were coming to Kathmandu. But since then, this number has been decreasing. On Thursday, 6,802 people were flying in and out of Kathmandu Airport. This is about 60 percent less than a normal day.

Seven airlines, including Himalaya Airlines and Nepal Airlines Corporation, operated flights to the Gulf region at Kathmandu Airport on normal days. However, at the aftermath of the Iran event, only Fly Dubai has started a certain number of passenger evacuation flights. Even the evacuation flights have not been regular. The rest, Qatar Airways, Air Arabia, Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways, have not continued their flights to Nepal.

Since the attack on Iran, the number of flights by major airlines serving Kathmandu-Gulf and other routes worldwide has also decreased significantly. According to flight tracking platform Flightradar, these flights, which were stable until February 27, fell dramatically on February 28. According to the data, the number of Air Arabia flights fell from 248 on February 27 to 84 on February 28. The number of Emirates Airlines flights fell from 531 to 224. Etihad Airways flights fell from 334 to 90. Similarly, Fly Dubai, which operates three daily flights to Nepal, also fell from 343 to 108.

The disruption continued in the first week of March. The numbers look even more dire after March 1. Flightradar data shows that the total number of flights for these four major Gulf carriers and international airlines fell from 1,456 on February 27 to 506 on February 28. That is a 65 percent drop. However, a gradual improvement has been observed since March 5, and the number of flights for these airlines has increased to 486.

The data reveal that the airspace closure in the Middle East following the attack on Iran has affected many flights operating on the Kathmandu-Gulf route. Many airlines have changed their flight routes or cancelled flights altogether.

Himalaya Airlines, Jazeera Airways, Kuwait Airways, Air Arabia, Fly Dubai, Qatar Airways and Nepal Airlines Corporation have reduced about 17 daily flights from Kathmandu due to the disruption. Foreign airlines have said that they have suspended many flights to the Middle East to protect non-military flights related to civil aviation in retaliation for the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran.