Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM): Arrival & Departure Guide for Travellers

Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) is Nepal's principal airport, sitting in Sinamangal about 5 to 6 km east of central Kathmandu. Its IATA code is KTM and its ICAO code is VNKT, and it is operated under the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). For most foreign visitors, KTM is the single point of entry to and exit from the country by air, so knowing the flow of the building saves a great deal of stress on a jet-lagged morning.

The complex has three separate buildings: the International Terminal (handling both international arrivals and departures), the Domestic Terminal roughly 500 m to the north for internal flights to Pokhara, Lukla, Bharatpur and the like, and a Cargo Terminal. International arrivals and departures share the same terminal but different floors, with arrivals immigration and baggage on the lower level. If you connect from an international flight onto a domestic one (for example flying on to Lukla for the Everest trek), budget time and, ideally, pre-arranged transport for the short hop between the two terminals.

Facilities inside the international terminal include money-exchange counters and ATMs in the arrivals area before immigration, mobile-SIM counters, free airport Wi-Fi, and a prepaid taxi desk. The airport has been progressively upgraded, but it remains busy and space is tight during morning arrival and evening departure peaks, which is the main reason every official source stresses arriving early.

Most nationalities can obtain a tourist visa on arrival at KTM; the big exception is Indian citizens, who do not need a visa, while SAARC nationals are entitled to one free 30-day visa per calendar year. The fastest route is to pre-fill the online application at the Department of Immigration portal (nepalimmigration.gov.np) before you fly: you upload a photo and receive a submission receipt with a barcode. That receipt is valid for 15 days, so complete it close to your travel date and print or save the barcode to show at the immigration desk.

If you have not pre-filled the form, use the self-service kiosks in the arrivals hall. The kiosks take a digital photo on the spot and print an application slip, so a physical passport photo is not strictly required there, though carrying one or two spares never hurts. Fill the disembarkation/arrival card handed out on the plane before you land to save time in the queue.

As of 2026, tourist visa-on-arrival fees are USD 30 for 15 days, USD 50 for 30 days and USD 125 for 90 days (multiple entry). Pay at the cashier window before reaching the immigration officer. Bring clean, fresh US-dollar notes, as soiled or torn bills are routinely refused; other major currencies and card payment are usually accepted, but card payments carry a convenience fee (around 3.5% of the transaction, or the rupee equivalent of USD 1, whichever is higher). Fees and eligibility change, so as of 2026, verify at nepalimmigration.gov.np before you travel.

With your visa fee receipt and barcode (or kiosk slip) in hand, join the immigration queue and present your passport, the arrival card and your paperwork. The officer stamps your entry visa. From there you go down to the baggage hall to collect checked luggage from the belts; free trolleys are available.

After baggage you reach customs, which uses a two-channel system. Take the GREEN channel if you have nothing to declare and are carrying only personal effects within the duty-free allowance. Take the RED channel if you are carrying dutiable or restricted goods, commercial quantities, excess gold or silver, or foreign currency above the declaration threshold. As of 2026, arriving passengers may generally bring in duty-free 200 cigarettes (or 50 cigars) and one litre of distilled liquor, plus reasonable personal effects; expensive electronics such as a laptop, drone or professional camera should ideally be endorsed in your passport so you can prove they are being taken back out.

On money: you can carry foreign currency worth up to about USD 5,000 (or equivalent) without declaring it; amounts above that must be declared on the customs form. Nepali rupees are restricted for import/export except small allowances, and Indian currency notes above the permitted denominations are not allowed. This page only summarises the allowances; for the full item-by-item limits, penalties and declaration rules, see the site's dedicated customs duty-free allowance and baggage rules guide.

Once you clear customs you are in the public arrivals area. Two priorities for most travellers are cash and connectivity. Money-exchange counters and ATMs sit in the arrivals area (some before immigration), and Nepal Telecom (NTC) and Ncell both run SIM counters at the airport where a passport and a few minutes get you connected. For a full comparison of tourist SIM and eSIM options, the site has a separate tourist and trekker connectivity guide.

For the ride into Kathmandu you have two main choices. The airport PREPAID TAXI desk in arrivals sells a fixed-price ticket; a trip to Thamel typically runs about NPR 700 to 1,000. It is safe, hassle-free and the fare is set, which many first-time arrivals prefer. Ride-hailing APPS such as Pathao and InDrive are noticeably cheaper for the same trip, often around NPR 350 to 600, but app-booked cars are generally not allowed to pick up inside the airport gate, so you must walk out to the Ring Road / airport exit and set that as your pickup point.

Practical tip: after a long flight with no local SIM yet, the prepaid desk is the low-stress option; once you have data and are travelling light, the apps save money. Agree nothing 'off-meter' with touts who approach you inside the hall, and keep small rupee notes handy for the fare and a modest tip.

For international departures, plan to be at KTM about three hours before your scheduled flight; check-in counters generally open around three hours out (some carriers up to four) and close about one hour before departure. For domestic flights from the separate domestic terminal, roughly two hours is the norm. TIA can have long, slow-moving queues at peak times, so earlier is safer, especially in the busy autumn and spring trekking seasons.

The departure flow is: an initial security/document check at the terminal entrance, then airline check-in and baggage drop, followed by emigration (exit immigration), and finally the boarding-gate security screening. TIA runs multiple layers of security screening, so keep your passport and boarding pass accessible and be ready to unpack laptops and electronics at the scanners. Liquids follow the usual international carry-on limits.

Airport and passenger service charges at Nepali airports are now almost always built into your ticket rather than paid separately at a counter, but the exact components (passenger service charge, tourism fee and so on) are explained on the site's dedicated airport tax and charges page, which is the place to check current amounts rather than duplicating them here.

Nepal enforces a strict 100-year antiquity rule: it is illegal to export any object more than 100 years old, including sacred images, idols, paintings, palm-leaf manuscripts and other items of cultural or religious value. This is taken seriously at KTM departure, and undocumented antique-looking items can be confiscated even if you bought them legitimately in a shop.

Genuinely old or valuable-looking items, and many statues, thangkas, carvings and metal idols, require a clearance certificate from the Department of Archaeology (Puratatva Bibhag) before they can leave the country. The department is located at the National Archive Building, Ramshah Path, Kathmandu, and it inspects the item and issues an export certificate confirming it is not a protected antiquity. Reputable handicraft dealers will tell you whether a piece needs this certificate and can often help arrange it.

Practical rule of thumb for shoppers: keep your purchase receipts, and for any statue, painting or religious object that could look old, get the Department of Archaeology certificate in Kathmandu a day or two before you fly rather than risking a scene at the customs desk. Ordinary new souvenirs, pashminas, tea, jewellery and machine-made handicrafts are fine to export without special paperwork.

Arrive early and expect queues. Immigration on arrival and security on departure are the two chokepoints; a pre-filled online visa form and an early airport arrival remove most of the pain. Fill the arrival card on the plane and have your paperwork, photo and USD notes sorted before you land.

Handle currency sensibly. Bring fresh, undamaged US-dollar notes for the visa fee, keep some small rupee notes for taxis and tips, and remember that Nepali rupees are hard to change once you leave Nepal, so reconvert leftover rupees before departure and keep your exchange receipts. Foreign-currency and gold limits are enforced, so declare anything over the thresholds in the red channel.

Finally, treat this guide as the process map and use the site's specialist pages for the detailed numbers: the customs duty-free allowance and baggage rules page for exact import/export limits and penalties, the airport tax and charges page for passenger and service fees, and the tourist connectivity guide for SIM and eSIM choices. Rules do change, so as of 2026, verify visa fees and requirements at nepalimmigration.gov.np and airport information at the CAAN / TIA websites before you travel.