Jomsom Airport is a domestic airport located in Jomsom serving Mustang District, a district in Gandaki Province in Nepal. It serves as the gateway to Mustang District that includes Jomsom, Kagbeni, Tangbe, and Lo Manthang, and Muktinath temple, which is a popular pilgrimage for Nepalis and Indian pilgrims.

Facilities

Jomsom Airport is located adjacent to the Kali Gandaki River at the northern end of the Kali Gandaki Gorge. The airport resides at an elevation of 8976 ft above mean sea level. It has one asphalt paved runway designated 06/24 which measures 2424 x. There is a downslope of 1.75% up to about 418 ft from the threshold of runway 06. There is a terminal building for passengers. There are daily flights between Pokhara Airport (domestic) and Jomsom between 0600 and 1215 local time in good weather. The airport is available throughout the year but visibility is not adequate for visual flight rules flight about 15% of the time. As high wind speeds often prevent airport operation after midday, airlines schedule flights to Jomsom for the early morning when wind speeds are low. Airlines operate a shuttle service between Jomsom and Pokhara and planes are turned around as rapidly as possible at each airport in order to complete as many flights as possible before wind speeds at Jomsom become too high or visibility forces the suspension of flights. Although the flying distance is short and the flight time is just 20 minutes, Jomsom Airport is located on the north side of the Himalayas while Pokhara is on the south side. The STOL aircraft servicing this route are unable to fly at the altitudes required to fly over the Himalayas. The heat from the sun in the Mustang District causes air to rise and draws strong southerly winds through the Kali Gandaki River gorge, resulting in strong winds at Jomsom airport after early morning. Cloud cover, changing visibility, and high winds, often mean flights are delayed or the airport closed. There are very high mountains between Pokhara and Jomsom, including Dhaulagiri (8,167 m or 26,795 ft) and Tukuche (6,920 m or 22,703 ft) on the west and Nilgiri Central (6,940 m or 22,769 ft) and Annapurna (8,091 m or 26,545 ft) on the east, of the Kali Gandaki River gorge and other high terrain, that prevent planes flying over the mountains and are hazards for the planes flying through the gorge. The high terrain to the east and west of the gorge is hazardous to planes on final approach to the airport from the south, or when an approach from the north is aborted and a go-around is attempted. With Jomsom Airport located at the head of the gorge, the high terrain surrounding the airport is a hazard whenever a go-around is required and when, as is frequently necessary after mid-morning, planes from Pokhara must overfly the airport and turn in the Mustang area in order to land into the strong southerly winds.

Airlines and destinations

Accidents & Incidents