Kathmandu airport immigration server outage causes brief disruption

 

ad

Kathmandu — Passenger processing at Nepal’s main international gateway was briefly disrupted on Sunday after the immigration server at Tribhuvan International Airport went offline, officials have said.

 

The Immigration Office confirmed that the system outage lasted for around 30 minutes and began shortly after 3:30pm local time. The disruption affected visa checks and the verification of travel documents for international passengers.

 

Immigration Chief Narahari Ghimire said the problem was caused by a technical glitch and has since been resolved. He added that immigration services are now operating normally.

 

At the time of the outage, 22 immigration desks were operating on both the departure and arrival sides of the airport. A staff member from a foreign airline at the airport told Kantipur newspaper that the server failure slowed visa verification and other immigration procedures, leading to delays for passengers.

 

Such technical problems have occurred repeatedly at Kathmandu’s only international airport in the past. Previous outages have disrupted passport authentication and other core immigration processes, raising concerns about system reliability.

 

Tribhuvan International Airport handles about 15,000 international passengers each day, with at least 90 international flights operating in both directions daily. Aviation stakeholders warn that system failures during peak travel periods can cause passengers to miss connecting flights and create wider operational difficulties.

 

Airline representatives have called for a permanent solution, including a reliable backup system, to prevent recurring disruptions at one of Nepal’s most critical transport hubs.