I'm in the airport and I just want to show you how beautiful this check in counter is.
Every check in counter is decorated with what I believe is the local art here.
Look at all of this!
Incredible!
These have to be the most unique airport check in counters.
[Woman speaks quietly] [Sam] Thank you - bye bye.
This is actually a cool airport.
You can just walk on the tarmac and board your plane.
[Sam] Hi there, hello. [Man] Hello. Can I help you with the bags, sir?
[Sam] Yeah, please. Thank you very much.
- Good morning, sir. [Sam] Good morning.
- Would you like a hot towel? - Thank you.
[Over public speaker] About two minutes ago, we just crossed the border between Nepal and
India and passengers on the right, if you look now you will be able to see Kangchenjunga
which is the third highest mountain on Earth.
Mountain Kangchenjunga is 8,586 metres or 28,150 feet above sea level.
[Indistinct chatter on radio]
[Pilot] One hour confirmed?
[Radio Reply Indistinct]... Depending on the availability of...
[Pilot] Oh, roger that,
we would request that we can pick up in the taxi ways until parking becomes available.
[Indistinct reply on Radio]
[Pilot] We would appreciate that... [Indistinct] Thank you.
[Pilot] One, two, three traffic ahead of us. [Sam] Three.
[Pilot] Yep, that's it.
[Sam] We are already through 43 minutes - in fifty more minutes, we will be approaching Kathmandu.
[Pilot Announcing] Ladies and gentlemen, the captain from the flight deck. We are at this point in time...
about fifty kilometres south of the Kathmandu valley... being held due to traffic congestion and a parking space
being unavailable for us to land in.
We are being told to hold - we have been given a tentative time of about 35 minutes from
now but I have requested for another approach and I will keep you informed should we get
delayed more than 30 minutes or so - if there is a further delay of that sort, I will keep you updated.
Otherwise, the weather at Kathmandu is still fine and six kilometers visibility and light winds from...
...The temperature at this point in time is 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Kathmandu viewer is a non-precision approach and the required visibility at Kathmandu should
be a minimum of 3000 feet or more.
So, the only time we will be able to shoot the Kathmandu viewer approach...
So, during the winter season, starting from December until mid-February, we have a lot
of this radiation in Kathmandu valley.
So, the visibility really reduces and a lot of airlines suffer because if you just stick
with the viewer approach, visibility stays at about 1000 to 1500 metres until midday
and a lot of operations are disrupted.
So we, with Paro restrictions on top of the Kathmandu restrictions are...
[Indistinct].
But with the RNP approach, what they do is...
It's an approach by itself but we can do it...
It's quite like a precision approach.
We can come down to a lower altitude with low visibility so that we can make this approach.
For example, with Kathmandu, for a non-precision approach, the viewer's required visibility
is 2,800 metres.
For the RNP, we just need 1,000 metres of visibility.
So that is a lot better and it's almost like a precision approach on the RNP and then we
do the AR, so it's an even better approach in that sense.
It takes a little longer, the RNP approach as opposed to the viewer approach but it's
a precision approach, so it's much better.
[Sam] In clear weather days or generally good conditions?
[Pilot] If you just do the viewer approach or you can even ask for a visual approach
if they give it to us, yeah but now, with so much traffic in to Kathmandu, we are holding
right now just for parking space so...
[Sam] They are also holding you fifty miles outside.
[Pilot] Yeah, we are south of the valley.
[Sam] South of the valley?
[Pilot] Yeah.
So, along the valley, on the periphery, there are mountains, yeah.
So, we are just past that south of the mountains, so we are holding about fifty kilometres south
of Kathmandu at this time.
[Pilot] This is a VOR. [Sam] VOR, yes.
[Pilot] So...
This is the map, this is the let down, yeah.
And this is the RNP.
[Sam] Ah, I see.
So, like a step landing. [Pilot] Yeah.
[Sam] Step approach.
[Pilot talks over radio] These are the heights of the mountains.
The white ones are the low ground.
This is a valley.
You know, we went in to the Kathmandu valley so the RNP follows the valley, yeah.
[Computer] Minimum.
200.
50, 40, 30, 20.
Retard, retard, retard!