Hello fellow Infinite Flight Community Members. I figured I would make this because why not.
General Information
Lukla is one of the most famous airports for it’s dangerous terrain, remote location, and very short runway length. It’s located in the Solukhumbu District of Nepal and serves as the gateway to the Everest Base Camp. It’s ICAO code is VNLK with an IATA of LUA. Landing at Lukla in real life requires special licensing and training.
Runway Information
Lukla Tenzing Hillary is known as a “No-Go Around” airport due to aircraft only being able to land on one side of the runway and takeoff from the other. It’s a short Asphalt paved runway 1792 feet long and 98 feet wide providing all pilots with numerous challenges as it also does NOT have an Instrument Landing System (ILS) which means pilots flying into Lukla must use Visual Flight Rules (VFR) when flying in the Lukla airspace.
Operational Challenges
- No Instrument Landing System (ILS). The ILS is a common and easy approach method into most airports especially controlled airports. Lukla however tests pilots Visual skills as landing at Lukla has Visual Flight Rules only due to the dangerous terrain.
- Weather! Lukla tends to have really cold weather and is commonly low visibility.
- Winds! The winds at Lukla are severe throughout the day which is why flights from Lukla are typically scheduled for early in the Mornings in order to allow for safety rules
- Mountains! Lukla is near Mount Everest which causes tons of challenges!
Ramp Information
Due to the small size of this airport it’s only known for being accessible to STOL aircraft like Twin Otters. However the airport can handle Cessna 208s.
They have two ramps with a total of Seven parking spots with 3 very small aircraft parking spaces and 4 Terminal Gates for the aircraft that land there.
Airlines And Routes
Tara, Summit, and Sita Air all fly direct Fixed Wing Routes from Kathmandu to Lukla and Lukla handles ~100 Flights Daily during the peak hiking season at Mount Everest.
Special Rules
There are some courteous and special rules to follow at Lukla in order to prevent accidents and they are listed below
- Hold at your Gate until the aircraft landing has completed their taxi in order to prevent congestion
- Do NOT line up and wait on the runway instead hold short as the other aircraft finalizes departure
- Always make traffic callouts as the takeoff/landing style is special at Lukla and this could cause multiple fatalities.
History
All Airports have a history involved, Lukla has a nice one to hear about so here it is:
(Cut from Wikipedia)
The airport was built in 1964 under the supervision of Sir Edmund Hillary, who originally intended to build it on flat farmland. However, local farmers did not want to give up their land, so the airport was built in its current position. Hillary bought the land from local Sherpas for US$2,650 and involved them in building the facilities.[6] It has been said that Hillary was unhappy with the runway’s soil resistance, and that his solution was to buy local liquor for the Sherpas and ask them to perform a foot-stomping dance to flatten the land that served as the runway.[7] The runway was paved in 2001.[8]
In January 2008, the airport was renamed in honour of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary, the first people confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest, and also to mark their efforts in the construction of this airport.[9]
Assistance Tools:
Before landing here in Multiplayer and absolutely wrecking, try it in solo so you can align perfect approaches. Once you feel comfortable do it in multiplayer. Make sure to use airport charts and ATC.