Tenzing-Hillary Airport (Lukla)

Nepal / Sankhuwasabha / Khandbari / Lukla
IATA: LUA, ICAO: VNLK

Lukla Airport is a small airport in the Town of Lukla in Khumbu, eastern Nepal. In January 2008, the government of Nepal announced that the airport would be renamed in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first persons to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The airport is now officially named Tenzing-Hillary Airport.

The airport was built for the climber of Mount Everest. Aviation can only be done during the day when the weather is sunny; But when the wind blows hard and the sky is cloudy, the airport will be closed to all flights.
It has a runway length of 460 meters and a width of 20 meters, there is no reason for the pilot to make a mistake during takeoff or landing. Because the foundation having a tilt at the end and directly across the valley. The tilt/slope is up to 12 degrees.
From 1973 to 2010 there have been nine plane crashes at the airport.

Location
City: Lukla, Nepal

Details
Use: Public/Civil
Latitude: 27°41'16"N
Longitude: 86°43'53"E
Elevation: 9100 ft (2774 m)
Runways: 1
Longest: 1500 ft (457 m)

Farthest: SCFX: 11628 mi / 18714 km, Isla San Felix, CLHillary
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzing-Hillary_Airport
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   27°41'12"N   86°43'46"E

Comments

  • Recently a science program featured the 10 most dangerous commercial airports. Lukna was at the top of the list.
  • This airstrip is nearest to Mt. Everest.
  • There are 4 hard-stands for STOL aircraft at the East end of the runway and an area for a helicopter on the North side.
  • That science program mentioned that the slope of the runway reaches 12 degrees, 3 degrees steeper then the road climbing past my driveway.
This article was last modified 2 years ago