Kathmandu, June 28 -- First the good news. Renovation work on the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport will be completed next Sunday, and the airport will remain open for 21 hours daily from Monday. The airport had to be closed for 10 hours daily to allow construction crews to work on the runway. The 3,050-metre-long runway has now been refurbished and covered with a new layer of asphalt.

Now for the bad news. Nepal's sole international airport will again be closed for 8 hours daily for four months from September 1, this time to restore the taxiway, airport authorities said.

"From July 1, we will open the airport for 21 hours of operation for two months. We will begin the second phase of the project on September 1, which includes r...