Lukla Airport
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Tenzing–Hillary Airport तेन्जिङ हिलारी विमानस्थल |
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Serves | Lukla, Nepal | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 9,334 ft / 2,845 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 27°41′16″N 086°43′53″E / 27.68778°N 86.73139°ECoordinates: 27°41′16″N 086°43′53″E / 27.68778°N 86.73139°E | ||||||||||
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 LUA
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Tenzing–Hillary Airport (IATA: LUA, ICAO: VNLK), also known as Lukla Airport, is a small airport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu, Solukhumbu District, Province No. 1, eastern Nepal. A program titled Most Extreme Airports, broadcast on The History Channel in 2010, rated the airport as the most dangerous airport in the world for over 20 years.
In January 2008 the airport was renamed in honor of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary, the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest and also to mark their efforts in the construction of this airport.
The airport is popular because Lukla is the place where most people start the climb to Mount Everest Base Camp. There are daily flights between Lukla and Kathmandu during daylight hours in good weather. Although the flying distance is short, rain commonly occurs in Lukla while the sun is shining brightly in Kathmandu. High winds, cloud cover, and changing visibility often mean flights can be delayed or the airport closed. The airport is contained within a chain link fence and patrolled by the Nepali armed police or civil police around the clock.
The airport's paved asphalt runway is accessible only to helicopters and small, fixed-wing, short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft such as the De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, Dornier Do 228, L-410 Turbolet and Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter. The runway is 527 m (1,729 ft) × 30 m (98 ft) with a 11.7% gradient. The airport's elevation is 9,334 ft (2,845 m). The airport is not only used for passenger flights, but also for transporting most of the building material and cargo to the town, as most of the roofs on the houses at Lukla have to be transported by aircraft.
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Wikipedia