The airport administration in Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) has now decided to shorten time to 18 and a half hours and only stay open till 12.30 am from March 28. Because of the significant decline in the number of flights, TIA will be shortening its daily operation hours The Rising Nepal reports.

Currently, the country’s sole international airport operates for 21 hours from 6 am to 3 am daily. Citing Deo Chandra Lal Karn, TIA spokesperson, the daily said the number of international flights decreased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and has not really picked up since.

This move will mainly affect FlyDubai, Nepal Airlines Corporation and Qatar Airways, among others, as per the TIA. “We have asked them to move their flights to before midnight as per the changed schedule,” Karn said.

According to data with the TIA, there were 80 daily flights to and from the airport before the pandemic and the following lockdown. Presently, the number of daily flights is less than half that at 30.