Flights to-from TIA unaffected by protests Kathmandu, August 20: Despite the furore over fuel price hike, domestic and international airlines operated their regular flights although they were delayed in the morning, officials at the Tribhuwan International Airport said. “Domestic and international flights took off smoothly but the flights were delayed in the morning as a few passengers had to walk to the airport due to lack of transport facilities,” said Min Raj Upadhyay, general manager of the TIA. However, shuttle services provided by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and escorted by armed police personnel became more regular only in the afternoon and it helped ferry passengers to and from the airport, according to him. However, air passengers and tourists had to undergo a lot of trouble due to the unannounced general strike and days like today cannot be deemed normal by any standard, he said. The Nepal Tourism Board provided services to the air passengers by operating three hired buses in various major routes to the airport and vice versa, said Tek Bahadur Dangi, chief executive officer of NTB. Only one bus was offering the service to the passengers from 10.30, however, two more buses were added in the mid-day keeping in mind the large number of passengers wanting the service. The buses provided pick-up and drop facilities to passengers from various points in the city such as hotels including Annapurna, Vaishali, Shankar, Radission, Hyatt, Everest, Himalaya and Soaltee. “The buses were overcrowded while it was difficult for us to arrange the transport facilities all of a sudden,” said Dangi. He also urged all concerned to refrain from calling such bandhs and strikes in the country to avoid damaging Nepal’s image in the international market. The slagging tourism sector had just begun showing some signs of recovery, but the bandhs will only tarnish the country’s image and hit the industry hard, he added.