About 1,000 tourists are stranded in Lukla after flights were affected due to bad weather.
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Due to continuous adverse weather conditions, air flights have been affected in Solukhumbu, which has the largest number of airports in the country. Flights have not been operating at Phaplu and Lukla airports, which have regular flights in the district, which has four airports, for the past three days.
Tourists have been inconvenienced due to the weather during this season, when the pressure of tourists is high. Due to the unseasonal rains, there have been no flights at Lukla Airport. Foreign tourists have been stranded due to the lack of flights. Tourists who had come with a specific time to visit have not been able to return.
ATC officer Nawaraj Katwal said that flights have not been possible in Lukla for three days due to the bad weather. Meanwhile, the airport has informed that flights have not been possible at Phaplu Airport, which is near the district headquarters, for three days. Especially, flights at this airport, which is used by government flag carriers, have been closed for three days due to the weather.
With the movement of tourists being stopped, even the management of accommodation here has become challenging. Tourists who had left for their destinations from the Namche area have arrived in Lukla and are stuck. Lamaji Sherpa, chairman of the Everest Pollution Control Committee, said that there has been an added challenge in managing the accommodation of tourists.
He estimated that about a thousand tourists were stranded in Lukla due to the lack of flights.
