Gautam Buddha International Airport guide

Gautam Buddha International Airport sits in Siddharthanagar Municipality, Rupandehi District, close to the centre of Bhairahawa. It is the gateway to Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and to the Butwal and Siddharthanagar urban area.

The airport opened in 1958 as a domestic field. It became Nepal's second international airport in May 2022, when the first international flight arrived on 16 May. The expansion was planned from 2013 to relieve congestion at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, and was delayed by the 2015 earthquake, a border blockade and COVID-19. The single asphalt runway, 10/28, measures 3,000 m by 45 m. A parallel taxiway follows the line of the old runway.

Domestic services link the airport with Kathmandu and Pokhara on Buddha Air, Shree Airlines and Yeti Airlines. International service has been irregular. Thai AirAsia, flydubai, Jazeera Airways, Qatar Airways and Nepal Airlines have flown scheduled routes, including to Bangkok, Dubai, Kuwait City and Doha. Most departing migrant workers still complete their formalities in Kathmandu, which has kept international traffic low.