Nepal Domestic Flight Misery is part of the ANA, Take Me ‘Round the World Trip Report.
Kathmandu to Pokhara is a 25-minute flight, but the initial flight was delayed due to weather, and this cascaded down onto my flight which was supposed to take off at 1PM. Here’s how it went:
1130AM: Ding dong, Yeti Airlines would like to announce the delay of flight 667 to Pokhara.
2PM: Ding dong, Yeti would like to announce the cancellation of flight 677 to Pokhara. Please see a gate agent. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I went to the check-in agent to see if this was my flight. It was confirmed that it was flight 677, not flight 667.
I went back to the departure terminal prison feeling hopeless. I began to believe that I would never leave. It reminded me of a scene out of Beetlejuice. Now serving number 895 was flashing. Meanwhile, my number was 324,564. I can’t recall a worse airport than this one besides Kolkata. And there isn’t a Priority Pass Lounge, not even a yuck one.
4PM: Ding dong, Yeti would like to announce the cancellation of flight 667, please see a gate agent. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Believing my flight was cancelled, I went out of the terminal and back to the ticket counter. There I was told that it was an incorrect announcement and that it was flight 677 that was cancelled.
Mildly hopeful, I went through security and back to the boarding gate. I was told that both 667 and 677 were cancelled because Pokhara airport was closed due to weather. I was also told that there was one last flight that day that might take off and there may be a few seats available.
5:30PM: As I ran back to the ticket counter to see if I could get on that flight, I heard the boarding announcement for Buddha Airlines: last call for all flights to Pokhara. How can an airport be closed to one airline but not another?
At the ticket counter, I waited as passengers from flight 667 and 677 reclaimed their luggage. After another hour, I was told that the last flight scheduled to Pokhara had also been cancelled. I was re-booked on the flight the next day at 6:45AM but was told, given the intense monsoon, that it may be cancelled again (see Would You Travel During the Rainy Season?). Exhausted, I went back to the Hyatt.
You should have travelled in tourist bus from the bus stop at kantipath Thamel. No need to book ticket in advance . Just show up around 6 30 am. Scenery is nice and on time and not affordable then flight
I mean to say tourist bus is way cheaper , better experience and very comfortable seats! You are guaranteed to arrive in about 7 to 8 hours. I am born in Pokhara lived there until I immigrated to US. Pokhara is way nicer then the over populated and dusty Kathmandu city
Oh just wait for the misery on the ride back. Plane or car, both were horrible.
Sitting in Katmandu airport during monsoon season, a travel who hadn’t prepared for the likelihood of a flight delay. I recommend you stick to less exotic destinations as you gain a better understanding of the vagaries of global air travel.
Since you make nonsense assumptions about me, let me make one about you: you’ve been to a fraction of the places I’ve been and done half as much. I suggest not coming off (as I just did) as a condescending jerk if you want me to listen to your advice.
[…] spirits. The curse of the rain forced my flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara to be cancelled (witness Nepal Home Flight Distress). I ended up staying one other night in Kathmandu, held up within the moderately Hyatt […]