Plane runs off Nepal runway

– Nepal’s only international airport had to be closed for 11 hours after a domestic aircraft skidded off the recently repaired runway, officials said yesterday.

The Jetstream 41 was flying in to Kathmandu late on Saturday with 21 passengers. Nobody was hurt but incoming and outgoing flights to Nepal’s sole international air gateway were diverted while authorities tried to remove the aircraft. The airport reopened at 8am yesterday.

The incident comes amid mounting safety concerns over cracks on the runway’s surface. Nepal has a poor air safety record and Nepal-based airlines are banned from European Union airspace. –