End of WOW Air-Indian Passengers were lucky

It was very unfortunate to read about WOW Air’s complete closure of operations. It was known since mid of last year that WOW Air is in trouble. But then, that is true for most airlines around the world- an airline having debt or running in loss doesn’t necessarily mean it will end up bankrupt.

WOW Air had ambitions expansion plans- they launched India flights in December 2018- we could go all the way to Los Angeles or SFO or pretty much anywhere on their network for a never before price of 13499 INR one way. [Details] (How to manage such a long haul trip without paying for meals, bag etc is another story)

Many Indians did book their cheap tickets on WOW Air. I also planned one trip to US and Another to Canada on WOW Air

But sometime late December it became known that WOW Air isn’t really getting some investments it was hoping for and to cut losses, they cancelled all destinations being served with widebody aircraft- A330. Thus by mid-January, barely a month since launch of India operations, Delhi flights were suspended. [Details]

2 months later, entire airline has packed up.

Thinking of it, we (Indian passengers) were relatively lucky. Because of following reason

• We got to know about India flight cancellations well in time to make alternate plans
• Those who could/willing to take an earlier flight had an option to do so
• Airline still had some money, so they promptly refunded for all bookings that had to be cancelled.

Situation now, for the affected passengers is far worse

• They are being told about cancellation of all flights abruptly
• Not sure when they will get refund, given that airline has no money left and filed for bankruptcy
• All alternate options are bound to be very expensive.

Hopefully affected passengers get some reasonable respite and get back home soon without a major financial impact. It is sad to see another airline close down.

Back home everyone is curiously watching what will happen to Jet Airways- will they get back, will someone else buy them out? Hopefully they will survive and carry on.

Airfrance KLM Sale is back-India Europe return for 36-40k with a catch

Airfrance & KLM are running a promotional sale on their website- various destinations in Europe, from India can be purchased for a return fare of about 30000-40000 INR.

This is a decent fare, but there’s a catch.

The cheapest fare is only on routes that involve India-Europe segment operated by Jet Airways. If you opt for a route operated by Air France or KLM, fares just double.

So given Jet Airway’s precarious position, is it worth going for this offer?

If you get good deal for the destination and date of your choice, it might be good idea to book, despite the risks

-Even if Jet Airways cancels the flight, ticket is issued by AirFrance/KLM so they are bound to accommodate you on an alternate flight or provide full refund.

-40k return is good deal for Europe, though cheapest I have seen is about 30-32k INR for Chennai-Paris on Qatar Airways

-These fares are still cancellable/date changeable for a fee, hence loss is less if you need to cancel or change your plans.
-Risk is when there's no alternative to Jet Airways (like Chennai-Paris- neither KLM, nor AF flies)- be ready to take full refund if need be, don't spend too much on hotel, site seeing

I found Bengaluru-Milan, Chennai-Milan for about 36-38k. Similarly other destinations are available for less.

JFK-DEL, LAX-DEL 32k INR return on China Southern!

US folks, if you're thinking of visiting India for Deepavali or Dasara this September/October, China Southern has super cheap fare- some 463 USD return from JFK to DEL or LAX-DEL.

This fare, which translates to about 32000 INR half the normal cost (55-60k minimum) of a India return ticket.

However, same fare are not available if you're starting your journey from India. DEL-JFK return costs 900 USD+...

Book on https://global.csair.com 

Malindo Super Saver fare without baggage

May 2019 Update: I am told by Malindo management that now meals is served to all passengers including Super Saver customers. Only Baggage allowance, miles earned varies.

Malindo Air has introduced a 'Super Saver' fare category-slightly cheaper fares but without meals and checked baggage. 7 Kg cabin baggage is allowed in economy class across fare types which isn't clearly called out in this official chart though.

Looks like Super Saver fare is an attempt to take on Low cost competitors like Air Asia. But is the savings enough? I tried multiple dates and destinations- found that Super Saver fare is roughly 10% cheaper than next fare class- Economy Value. This means savings of about 2000 INR for long haul flights, less than 1000 INR for short flights (one way) on booking Super Saver. Is that temping enough? What do you think? To me it is tempting only if the fare cheaper or at least matches Air Asia fares..

Looks like the new fare type is relaxed a bit for flights operated by Batik Air- like the Chennai-KUL is operated by Batik air, so I could see checked in bag symbol for the flight. But for BLR-MEL, all operated by Malindo, only miles icon is visible

 Also to be noted checked-in bag limit is down to 15kg from 25kg last year (which was 30 kg in 2017). All signs of airlines across the world trying to cut cost and make passengers pay more.

How much do the baggage and meal cost on Malindo air?
For the BLR-Melbourne route above, checked in baggage would cost from 4.4k to 25k one way depending on weight. Even if you have one small bag to check-in, it makes more sense to buy the Economy Value ticket which includes meals and 15kg baggage allowance.

Snacks (not full meals) cost about INR 161 per serving.

Full service airlines across the world are forced to compete with low cost airlines. Vistara launched Vistara Lite fares last year. Jet has also taken away meals in economy. So be careful what you're booking- don't assume your fare includes everything just because it is a full service airline.

Similar: AirAsia vs Malindo Air *  Bali top view from Malindo Air's window seat *

Jet Airways FAQs/Action Guide for passengers having future ticket

This month, I've answered several queries on messenger and whatsapp for friends and strangers who had their tickets on Jet Airways coming up and not sure what will happen to them. I am not an expert in giving solution to massive crisis like that of Jet Airways and I don't have any magic solution for affected passengers either. But within the rules of engagement between passengers and airline, with whatever little knowledge I have from traveling around the world and running an airlinebog and a travel blog, I though it will help to answer those queries in public for the benefit of passengers with an upcoming jet airways flight.

Q1. I have a Jet Airways flight coming up. Will they operate? Should I cancel? Will I get refund?
Jet Airways has already grounded almost 75% of its planes and is operating a minimum network. Jet doesn't announce cancellations well in advance so there's no way of knowing how much more worse it will get say by end of April. There's a planned strike as well. If you cancel voluntarily before airline announces cancellation, you'll be charged a hefty cancellation fee, which could be more than ticket cost itself. If your flight hasn't been announced cancelled yet, what will happen next or what you should do is a function of multiple factors.

What best you can do is a function of how flexible you are to cancel the trip, how much money is at stake, how much time you've till travel date and if you've booked on Jet Airways website/OTAs or with another airline. Below table will serve as a quick reference guide depending on these combinations.

#	Travel Date	Flexibility	Amount Involved	Booked on	Recommended Action
1	Few months ahead (June/July or later)	Ok to cancel the trip	Not Huge Like domestic holiday where you paid 5-12k per person	Jet website/ OTAs	No point paying 4-5k per passenger or more to cancel. Wait for another month for better clarity. If flight is cancelled take refund, if not hope for best Don’t spend more on hotel etc/book free to cancel stuff Risk: Airline shuts down and you get zero refund or cancels 2 days before departure/return flight etc- Take a call next month to assess.
2	Few months ahead (June/July or later)	Ok to cancel the trip	Huge International trips where you paid 30-50k per person	Jet website/ OTAs	Wait till April first week- If pilots go on strike, more aircrafts grounded, no one infusing money- Mostly airline itself will cancel flights and you will be eligible for full refund. Even otherwise depending on your risk profile might be better to cut your loss, take refund. You may lose about 8-10k per person but that’s better than risking entire trip
3	Few months ahead (June/July or later)	Must Go	Not Huge Like domestic holiday where you paid 5-12k per person	Jet website/ OTAs	Book another ticket on Indigo/Vistara Spicejet during any sale or when you spot a reasonable fare Leave jet ticket as is, as cancellation cost will be huge and not worth it. Wait it out, mostly Jet will cancel flight entitling you for full refund, else 7-10 days before travel date cancel n take whatever refund you can get
4	Few months ahead (June/July or later)	Must Go	Huge International trips where you paid 30-50k per person	Jet website/ OTAs	Cancel jet ticket, get whatever refund you can get, book on alternate airline. Because last minute international fare will cost much more that what you will lose as cancellation fee now
5	Immediate (April/ May)	Ok to cancel the trip	Not Huge Like domestic holiday where you paid 5-12k per person	Jet website/ OTAs	Wait for Jet to cancel, take refund, re-plan for later Don’t spend heavy amount on hotels & other things, have plan B for return flight if onwards operates but return flight cancelled
6	Immediate (April/ May)	Ok to cancel the trip	Huge International trips where you paid 30-50k per person	Jet website/ OTAs	Wait till April 1st week- if there’s no positive news and you don’t want to risk your money/trip, cut your loss, cancel.
7	Immediate (April/ May)	Must Go	Not Huge Like domestic holiday where you paid 5-12k per person	Jet website/ OTAs	Book another ticket on Indigo/Vistara Spicejet. Leave jet ticket as is, as cancellation cost will be huge and not worth it. Wait for them to cancel, or if you are ok to take whatever refund you get, then cancel.
8	Immediate (April/ May)	Must Go	Huge International trips where you paid 30-50k per person	Jet website/ OTAs	If possible wait till April 1st week for better clarity, if not possible cancel and book elsewhere
9	Any	Any	Any	Other Airlines	If you’ve booked a ticket with Airfrance/KLM or Etihad etc with some legs operated by Jet Airways, respective airline is responsible to provide alternate flight. If you have some flexibility, you can work with respective airlines to either get proper refund or get on next best available flight. They can’t refund/reschedule for free unless Jet officially announces cancellation of your flight, so you may have to wait it out. If you can’t wait, pay the fare difference, change fee and get the ticket modified to include some other code share partner/carrier’s own flight Only risk is scenario where there's no alternative at all to portion that was operated by Jet- in this case you need to decide as per scenarios 1-8

Have I missed any combination? Got any specific questions? Do ask/share your thoughts.

Q2: I see some good prices on Jet Airways website- Should I book?
I hate to say this, but at this moment, not advisable. While they are cancelling lots of flights last minute, the website is selling tickets for future dates on cancelled routes.[Read this post] My guess is it is a desperate attempt to raise some cash, without any serious plan to honor those tickets.

Thus at this moment, hold on to your plans- at least wait till April 1st week to see if pilots go on strike or someone infuses money or the non-stop flight cancellations stop and some sort of schedule integrity sustains.

Q3: What happens if airline closes
Same thing what happened once Kingfisher closed down. Your ticket money is practically gone.

Q4: How long Jet can survive like this?
I am as clueless as you are. Their primary source of funding is ticket sales, which will be less and less each passing day, as airline is cancelling flights, losing its reputation and doesn't have much confidence left that it will operate remaining flights as planned. So I am sure ticketing revenue is on the decline since past few months- unless a turn around/additional funding is announced, soon people will stop booking altogether. Then funding day to day operation- fuel for the flights, paying salary also will be tough and airline will stop operating. This can happen as early as next month or may be if they get some lifeline from Government run banks (thanks to Election season) or anyone else willing to pump more money into the black hole, Jet may continue to operate its skeleton network for few more months. We can only wait and watch.

Q5: What to do with JP Miles?
You can redeem JP Miles for various gifts. You don't necessarily have to fly. So unless you strongly believe that Jet Airways will revive, redeem to something useful for you.

Q6: How long do Jet Airways take to refund?
Under normal conditions, 7 to 10 working days- that is if the airline has money and can release it to bank promptly to refund you. But twitter is full of complaints- not receiving refunds even after months, while a few have thanked airline for prompt refund. Thus I guess a bit of luck is needed to get your money back.

Q7: My booking on Jet Airways was done via MMT/GoIbibo/Yatra/cleartrip/Travel agent etc- will they help me?
No. These OTAs have no motive to take a loss and book you on another flight. At best they will transfer money once received from airline. In most cases these sites try to take their cut and refund only partial amount (because from their point of view, they have provided their part of service), triggering further anger from passengers. So be ready for some extra fight if your travel agent/website doesn't refund full amount.

Spicejet launches Hyd-Colombo direct flight.. one stop via Chennai cheaper

Spicejet has announced direct flight between Hyderabad and Colombo starting April 15th.

However, when I checked, one stop flight via Chennai was being sold for lot less. Which is a bit odd, particularly when you're trying to promote a new route

From South India to Colombo, cheap fare is what's under INR 10000 for return. Anything above 15000 INR is on the higher side. During Srilankan sale it may be possible to grab much cheaper fares.

Similar: Cheapest way to reach Hyderabad Airport * Colombo in a day * 

American Airline complicated process for bookings with India credit cards

Unlike all other US airlines I made bookings with, such as SouthWest, JetBlue, Spirit, WestJet, Copa etc, American Airline seem to have a super complex process for bookings being made with credit cards issued in India.

This is my experience this month.

March 14^th I made a booking on American Airlines, from Bahamas to Miami. Payment was made with friend’s credit card and I got a confirmation onscreen, that said ticket is confirmed. I thought everything is sorted and forgot about it.

Soon after booking, status was shown as Confirmed

Apparently they sent a mail soon after, which I didn’t care to read as I thought it is just email confirmation of the booking, which I had already saved as PDF.

4 days later, today, I get an email from American Airline, which states that my booking is still pending and if I don’t action now, they will cancel it. The link in the email wouldn’t work. (first image above)

Now I read their original mail again carefully- it reads as below. It has been brought to my attention that account number is dynamic- made up of PNR and customer mobile number, which is strange.

They had charged only 1 USD to my friends credit card and the balance I was supposed to pay via NEFT and then inform customer care or get OTP and call customer care. To me this looked like the 1990s process of online transaction. All other US based airlines I booked tickets on- SouthWest, JetBlue, Spirit etc didn’t have any problem accepting online payments through credit cards (Southwest accepts debit card as well)- so why American has this complicated process?

Not sure why is this in place- AA doesn't trust Indian credit cards? Or Indian banks don't trust AA?
Why can't AA have an Indian website (they already have a team here) and collect payment in INR (like how airbnb.in works)

Why was "confirmed" was shown initially? Why not say upfront "Indian credit card holders- don't bother booking with us"?

I tried calling American Airlines customer care in India. Unlike many other US based airlines who operate only within and around Americas, American Airlines flies to several destinations around the world, so they do have offices in many countries. That is certainly a positive-I don’t have to call US customer care, but it was useless. The website said India customer care is open from 9 AM to 5 PM. When I called them at 9.50 AM, no one was in office to receive the call. Phone rang and rang and eventually hung up. I called again at 10.05 same thing. Tried one last time at 10.18 and this time my call would get disconnected automatically (not even on hold) saying “All customer care executives are busy”.

At this moment I lost all interest in flying on American. I sent a tweet, replied to their mail and checked other alternatives. Luckily SouthWest had a flight NAS to FLL on same date for same amount. I promptly went ahead and booked a ticket on SouthWest, got instant confirmation.

Got a standard reply on twitter promptly asking to DM details. 11.20 AM I get a call from American Airline customer care- they offer to connect me to an IVR into which I was supposed to enter all card details and make payment. Fare difference applies and I don’t know what other complications they bring up. I told them to cancel the ticket as I have already booked elsewhere. The staff didn't have an iota of regret or disappointment that his company is losing business and a customer. No attempt made to give alternate options or understand why I want to cancel. He was happy to get rid of me and my booking and end the call.

Why would Indian customers (or customers with India issued credit card) be ready to go through this complicated process? American isn’t super cheap, their basic economy fare is higher than that of low cost carriers but service wise same (no seat selection, no refund and various other restrictions). Because of current experience, I may not even bother opening American next time I search for flights.

Looks like this process is unique to India issued credit card. If you have a credit card issued outside of India your life will be more simpler and you may get instant confirmation. Internet is full of incidents of American moving a ticket to “Ticketing pending” status for wide range of reason- need for additional information etc, making customers panic and run from pillar to post to get their tickets confirmed.

Earlier I had another issue with American as well- I wanted to fly with them Miami to Austin for about 8300 INR, but since I had an issue with my card at that time, I opted for Pay Offline. I got a hold ticket but no option to pay online. Only option was to transfer money to bank account of AA and email/talk to customer care. I got my card issue sorted and tried pay online and get confirmed ticket-absolutely no option. Tried making a fresh booking but rate had gone up by 3000 INR, so I lost interest, booked my flight on Spirit instead, which was still cheaper despite having to pay 37$ for cabin bag.

I was looking forward to experience American but their super complex process, buggy website and ‘not coming to office on time’ customer care in India made me lose interest and book elsewhere. Hopefully they will improve their process. When all other airlines have got things sorted, American is unnecessarily complicating things. Of the 13 different flights I booked for my US trip, none of them were with top 3- United, American or Delta- due to their high pricing mainly and complicated process in case of American.

How was your experience with American (particularly for bookings from India)- good?

Jet Airways selling future tickets on cancelled flights!

Jet Airways has about two third of its aircrafts grounded. Jet has cancelled hundreds of flights across its network and is operating an almost skeleton schedule. They have completely stopped flying to dozens of airports they used to fly to and on other major airports, flights are cut by a large number.

For example, Jet had about 6 daily non stop flights between Chennai and Delhi. Now only 1 is operational. Everything else is cancelled. A few more options are provided via Bombay though.

Only 1 direct flight between Chennai n Delhi now

However one thing I noticed that if you select a future date, Jet Airways website is accepting bookings as per their original schedule. For example, if you select a date for November 2019, website is allowing booking on all 6 flights as per original schedule, while there's no guarantee whatsoever that situation will return to normal by then.

Bookings being accepted on cancelled flights

May be they are optimistic, may be Jet is legally allowed to sell tickets as per schedule even if they have no clue if the airline will survive till November, may be they don't want to lose money- let people pay and book, closer to travel date Jet will announce cancellation and force passengers to take some inconvenient option. This in my opinion is deception or cheating. What do you think? An unsuspecting passenger might be trusting the airline and booking a ticket while airline pockets the money fully knowing their inability to honor the booking.

So as a passenger, you should do your homework- don't trust the website completely.

Jet Blue's romantic welcome letter!

Last time I had a sentimental love-letter kind of communication was from Norwegian, where they wondering why I am not flying with them anymore. [Read the full post here]

Now a mail sent by JetBlue made me smile. Jet Blue is a US based low cost carrier with flights within US and to nearby countries. I recently created an account and made one booking with them.

Below is the mail they sent shortly afterwards... Read it for yourself. They call themselves to be a suitor- like how a bride or groom would evaluate multiple potential partners and chose one.

One more letter

Experience booking various USA flight tickets

Apart from ex-India flight bookings, I have had experience booking flights in Europe. [Read comparison of 7 European Airlines that I flew]

Recently I did a series of bookings for my one month long US and central America trip. I booked flight tickets worth about 1 lakh INR, flying to Bahamas, Bogota, Panama, Costa Rica, US domestic and to Canada, in addition to 48250 India-Washington return ticket on Qatar Airways. There have been some unique experiences and observations-this post shares those experiences. It will be a quick reference when you’re booking your flights for travel around the Americas.

#	Airline	Booked for	Pros	Cons
1	South West	6 different flights IAD-NAS, SJC-FLL, AUS-LAS,LAS-SFO, SFO-SAN, NAS-FLL	Free cabin bags, Wifi, snacks Easy to use interface Could pay through India debit card	Exclusive on own website, Not visible on 3rd party portals like skyscanner No seat selection at all
2	Copa Airline	BOG-PTY, PTY-SJC	Could use frequent flyer # of star alliance partner airlines Free seat selection	Very expensive 176 $ for 90 min flight compared to 100 dollars for 3 hour flight in JetBlue, South West or Spirit ICICI blocked my credit card for attempting to pay this airline
3	American Airline	Didn't book	Full service airline Has India office Shows price in INR Could use frequent flyer # of oneworld partner airlines Complicated process for India cards	Opted for offline payment but couldn’t change to online payment again Price went up by 3000 overnight Won’t accept debit card
4	WestJet	LAX-Vancouver
5	Spirit	FLL-AUS	Cheap flights if you can manage without cabin bag Cheaper rates if you pay for 9$ club membership	Only personal item included, decent size cabin bag costs 30-40 $ extra per flight. Tax added later Won’t accept debit card Very irritating website with too many upsell attempts
6	Jet Blue	FLL-BOG	Romantic welcome letter
7	Air Canada Express	Vancouver-Washington		Was cheaper on 3rd party site than airline website Can’t modify ticket on airline website as it is booked elsewhere

1. South West Airlines

South West has been the best experience of all. Very easy interface, no irritating upselling, good pricing, basic services included. About half of my flights during the Americas trip were on South West, due to good pricing and easy interface. All my US friends also were highly appreciative of South West.

They accept Indian debit card payment. No option to select a seat- seats are to be taken upon boarding first come first serve.

2. American Airline

I would have avoided them but changed circumstances forced me to book on AA

I had identified a cheaper return flight from Bahamas to FLL on South West but after I booked Washington-Bahamas flight, I realized that the cheap return flight is no longer available for the date I wanted. I believe overnight decision to ban Boeing 737 Max 8 planes is the reason SouthWest had to pull back many flights. Next best alternative was only AA, which was 2x expensive.

I also identified another flight from Miami to Austin on AA- the fare was about 8200- but since I had an issue with payment, I opted for offline payment, thinking I can hold the fare and pay once my credit card issue is resolved. I got an on-hold ticket valid for about 2 days. Good thing is AA has an office in India and shows prices in INR. Next day I tried retrieving the booking and pay via credit card- but there was absolutely no option to pay online. I got a mail asking me to do bank transfer and then contact airline customer care. It was all too much to deal with. I tried making fresh booking but now the fare had gone up by 3k INR. So eventually abandoned AA and booked on Spirit.

Update: My originally Confirmed tickete was later shown as "Ticket Pending" - looks like American has a complicated process for all India issued credit cards. Read full details here. I booked on SouthWest for similar amount.

3. Spirit

Spirit is a bare bone low cost airline. Their base fare only includes a personal item. My bag’s dimension is just a few cms more than this personal item limit. So there is all probability that they won’t allow it for free and ask me to pay a lot at the airport. Adding a cabin bag costs around 35-40 USD- cabin bag costs more than check-in bag and most of the time final price just doubles if you factor tax and cabin bag.

Plus the Spirit website was extremely irritating. It repeatedly tries to upsell unnecessary things. I had initially decided to avoid Spirit-but after the AA issue as explained above, Spirit was next best option- 50 $ ticket, 17 $ tax, 37 $ for bag- total about 105 USD.

4. Copa Airlines
Panama based airline has several flights from its hub in Panama city to various destinations in central america. They are bit expensive like 170 dollars for a short haul  flight barely 2 hours, 3x what South West would charge for similar distance. But in their region they are the masters. I figured instead of flying back to Miami directly from Bogota I can visit two more countries by flying to Panama City, Costa Rica and then back to Miami- cost me 20k more, but since I wasn't sure when I will ever visit that part of the world again, so went ahead and booked.

5. West Jet and 6.  JetBlue
Standard experience. Nothing particular to add

7. Air Canada Express
Booked via 3rd party website as fares were cheaper there than Air Canada website and ICICI promptly blocked my credit card. Now can only do some basic changes on Air Canada website- for everything else I am being asked to go to 3rd party website where I made the booking. Fair enough.

This was just ticket booking experience. Wait till I fly actually-will be able to share more detailed review.

Qatar Airways US Return ticket for under 50k INR

Qatar Airways has been running promotional sale for sometime.

You can get some decent fares to destinations in US- like I could get Chennai-Boston, Chennai-Washington for about 48k INR, which is very good fare considering Qatar is a full service airline-very reputed one at that.

Cheaper deals are available for short term travel- like April-May itself- so check it out.

You can also select an itinerary, hold the fare for free for about 24 hours and make payment within 24 hours to confirm your seat. Helps if you're trying to make a decision considering multiple factors like leave approval. spouse confirmation etc.

Other good deals I could spot:
Chennai- London return for 35k- available for select dates in May-June, Sep-October 2019
Chennai- Europe (various destinations)- 36-37k

Sale is extended till 17th March, so check.
Even Emirates is having similar sale, but a few thousand more expensive than Qatar.

If you had plans for long haul destinations in Europe and America, go book now.

Tribhuvan international Airport, Kathmandu- Quick review

It was my first visit to Nepal. Kathmandu is Nepal’s capital and Tribhuvan International is Nepal’s gateway airport. It is Nepal’s only international airport (till Pokhara gets ready) and has flights from Dubai, Istanbul, Doha, Bangkok, Muscat, Delhi and other parts of Asia and Middle East. This post is a quick brief on Kathmandu Airport and its facilities.

 

Crowded with limited capacity

• KTM airport departure area has only 5 gates, thus gates get assigned only last minute.
• Even number of baggage belts are limited- expect waiting for around 30-45 mins for your bags to arrive, after you've spent some 30 minutes clearing immigration and security formalities. (of course this time taken is a function of how many simultaneous flights land along with yours)
• Terminal is usually over crowded- needs some waiting/luck to get a seat during rush hour. 
• There’s only 1 shop selling some food and snacks in departure area. Absolutely nothing else. 
• There’s free WiFi, which is good. 
• You can go inside Gate 4 and 5, get some very good closeup view of the aircrafts parked outside.

Arrival: Took about 10 minutes for immigration, another 20-30 mins to clear security. I didn't have check-in bag, which could take another 30 minutes to arrive.

Public transportation: There’s no dedicated buses to/from Kathmandu airport from city. However if you can walk to main road- about 400-500 meters from airport, then you can get buses to various parts of the town. Bit difficult to figure out right bus and board, but it is manageable to some extent. Don’t plan a hotel too far from airport.It was my first visit to Nepal. Kathmandu is Nepal’s capital and Tribuvan International is Nepal’s gateway airport. It is Nepal’s only international airport (till Pokhara gets ready) and has flights from Dubai, Istanbul, Doha, Bangkok, Muscat, Delhi and other parts of Asia and Middle East. This post is a quick brief on Kathmandu Airport and its facilities.

 

Are there hotels nearby?

I could find decent hotels within 2-3 kms from KTM airport. There's no Hyatt or Hilton or Holiday Inn next to the hotel. You've to go into city.