Airports: Nepal

The METAR and TAF decoder database holds 49 airports in Nepal. 43 of them have an IATA code and every one has an ICAO code, which in this country starts with VN. For every airport on the list below the site shows the current METAR and the TAF forecast decoded into plain English, together with a map, runway data and a clock in the airport's local time.

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All airports in Nepal

Largest airports in Nepal

The most significant airports in the database for this country are Tribhuvan International Airport (Kathmandu) (VNKT/KTM), Gautam Buddha International Airport (Siddharthanagar (Bhairahawa)) (VNBW/BWA), Pokhara International Airport (VNPR/PHH), Biratnagar Airport (VNVT/BIR) and Nepalgunj Airport (VNNG/KEP).

Weather reports identify an airport by its four-letter ICAO code, not by the IATA code - which is why the METAR for VNKT is available even for airports with no ticketing code. The airports of Nepal are spread across 47 municipalities listed in the database.

Airports by classification

How the airports break down: small airports and airfields - 40; medium-sized airports - 6; large airports - 3.

The classification comes from OurAirports and describes the size of the infrastructure, not passenger traffic. Regular METAR and TAF reports come mostly from the larger airports; small airfields often publish none at all - in that case the nearest reporting station is listed in the "nearby airports" section of the airport page.

Geographic span and time zones

The northernmost airport in the database is Simikot Airport (VNST/IMK) (29°58'N), the southernmost is Biratnagar Airport (VNVT/BIR) (26°29'N). East to west the extremes are Bhadrapur Airport (VNCG/BDP) (88°05'E) and Mahendranagar Airport (VNMN/XMG) (80°09'E).

The highest airport is Syangboche Airport (Namche Bazaar) (VNSB/SYH) at 12,400 ft / 3,780 m above sea level, the lowest is Biratnagar Airport (VNVT/BIR) (236 ft / 72 m). Elevation matters when reading a report: METAR cloud bases are given above aerodrome level, not above mean sea level.

The airports here sit in 3 time zones: Asia/Kathmandu, Asia/Kolkata and Asia/Shanghai. METAR and TAF are always issued in UTC (the "Z" suffix), which is why every airport page runs a clock in the airport's own local time next to the report.

METAR and TAF for airports in Nepal

Each airport page shows the raw METAR plus a full decode: flight category (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR), wind direction and speed with gusts, visibility, weather phenomena, cloud layers with their bases, temperature, dew point and QNH pressure. The TAF forecast is split into its validity periods including the change groups (BECMG, TEMPO, PROB).

METAR is normally issued every 30 or 60 minutes and TAF four times a day, with extra amendments when conditions change. The data comes from the Aviation Weather Center (NOAA) and is fetched live on every visit.

How to read a METAR and TAF report?

METAR is a recurring (usually every 30-60 minutes) weather report issued by an airport: wind, visibility, weather phenomena, cloud cover, temperature, dew point and pressure. TAF is a forecast for the next 24-30 hours, split into change groups (FM, BECMG, TEMPO, PROB).

The flight category badge (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR) is a quick summary of how demanding conditions are for landing - from good visibility (VFR) to very limited visibility and a low cloud base (LIFR).

Reports are given in UTC (universal time), not the airport's local time.
Wind direction is the direction it's blowing "from", in true/magnetic degrees, plus speed.
Visibility and cloud base determine the flight category (VFR/MVFR/IFR/LIFR).
MetarTaf Decoder translates every group of the report into a full sentence, without guessing abbreviations.