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Roundup: 40,000 passengers languishing, 160 flights affected as Nepal's only airport closed

Xinhua, March 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Nepal's only international airport, the Tribhuwan International Airport, has remained shut for the past three days following Turkish Airlines Flight TK726 skidding off the runway after landing since Wednesday morning.

Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) extended the suspension of all international flights (outgoing and incoming) until 10 a.m. Saturday as a team of Indian and Nepalese experts continued efforts to remove the immobile plane from the runway, ended in vein Friday.

"We have decided to suspend all international flights until 10 a.m. Saturday only after removing the crash-landed aircraft from the runway.Efforts are underway to remove the immobile aircraft," General Manager of the CAAN Ratishchandra Lal Suman told reporters on Friday afternoon.

Approximately 40,000 passengers remain stranded and over 160 flights are said to be canceled after Nepal's only international airport faced the struggle of removing the plane in the past 72- hours.

Officials said they were not able to lift the grounded plane's nose and change the tires until Friday evening. The plane's nose cone and tires were said to be partially damaged in the course of the emergency landing at the airport.

"The major challenge for us is to lift the plane's nose cone and push the grass-grounded plane back onto the airstrip," Suman told reporters.

An Indian Air Force's Hercules aircraft carrying experts and plane removal equipment was deployed to the scene to assist with the removal of the Turkish airlines flight from the grassland.

Officials said that plane removal equipment has never been required by Nepal since the Himalayan country has never faced such a problem in the past.

The cancellation of international flights has also taken a huge toll on the tourism business as the industry is the backbone of the economic development in the Himalayan region.

Turkish Airlines Flight TK726 veered off the runway while landing at Nepal's Tribhuwan International Airport on Wednesday morning. Among the 227 people on board, including 11 crew members, there were no fatalities. Endi