Syangboche Airport

Syangboche Airport (Nepali: स्याङ्बोचे हवाइ-मैदान) (IATA: SYH, ICAO: VNSB) is a domestic airport located in Namche Bazaar^[1] serving Solukhumbu District, a district in Koshi Province in Nepal. Syangboche Airport’s first and foremost challenge is its elevation at 3,780 m (12,402 ft); it is exposed to some of the most extreme and capricious weather conditions in the world, with heavy winds, fog and snowfall.

Syangboche Airport स्याङबोचे हवाइ-मैदान
IATA: SYH ICAO: VNSB
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of Nepal
Operator	Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal
Serves	Namche Bazaar, Solukhumbu, Nepal
Elevation AMSL	12,402 ft / 3,780 m
Coordinates	27°48′40.4″N 086°42′44.2″E
Map
Syangboche Airport Location of airport in Nepal
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 13/31 405 1,329 unpaved
Sources: [1][2]

Syangboche airstrip

History

The airport was constructed in 1971 by a team led by Takashi Miyahara and was opened with a test flight by Royal Nepal Airlines on June 1, 1973.^[3] It was built to serve Hotel Everest View [jp], at the time the highest-placed hotel in the world.^[4]

In the early 2000s, an expansion proposal that would let tourists skip the trek from Lukla to Namche Bazaar met opposition from Lukla entrepreneurs who feared a loss of business. However, the plans for expansion never materialized.^[5]

Facilities

The airport is at an elevation of 3,748 m (12,297 ft) and has one runway with a length of 405 m (1,329 ft).^[1]

Airlines and destinations

Currently, there are no scheduled services to and from Syangboche Airport. Previously Nepal Airlines and Tara Air operated routes to Kathmandu.^[6]

References

1. Airport information for Syangboche, Nepal (VNSB / SYH) at Great Circle Mapper.
2. "Syangboche Airport" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
3. Miyahara, Takashi (1982). ヒマラヤの灯―ホテル・エベレスト・ビューを建てる (in Japanese). ISBN 978-4163376806.
4. Khatri, Shirish (November 2016). "The Himalayan Inspiration". ECS Nepal. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
5. Limbu, Ramyata (31 May 2002). "Air war over Lukla". Nepali Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011.
6. "Syangboche Airport deprived of Flight Operation from Past decade". Aviation Nepal. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2020.