Phaplu is the closest airport to Mount Everest that is connected to the national road network. Due to rising tourist numbers there are more and more scheduled flights to this airport which is not only another Gateway to Everest but in itself a beautiful destination nested into a lush green landscape.

The airport has an interesting location along a slope with an apron carved into the terrain and the tower and terminal on top of a high wall that follows the runway. Be cautious when taxiing here as you wouldn‘t be the first pilot there who‘s wingtip would touch the wall! Approaches to the airport however are troubled by the harsh wind conditions in the valley. Due to strong wind the airport closes at noon, which means that flights are only happening in the morning hours when the weather is usually suitable for flying. Gusts of 43 knots have been recorded here.

As a bonus there’s another challenging airport included in this package: Kangel Danda, which is spectacularly located on top of a mountain between Rumjatar and Lukla. At both ends of the runway there are steep cliffs letting you gain ground clearance quickly without even climbing.

Recently there have been plans to re-commence scheduled flights here since the coms equipment got destroyed by a thunderstorm and little efforts have been made to repair it for years. The goats grazing the airport are happy using is as a welcome pasture.

Features:

• Detailed 3D terrain models of Phaplu and Kangel Danda airports with high resolution photorealistic textures
• Newly constructed Phaplu secondary apron
• Monastery
• Lots of animated people and animals
• Animated ground traffic (check out the tuktuks!)
• Realistic night lighting
• Various typical sounds
• Detailed manual

Disclaimer: The screenshots and the video are from the MSFS 2020 version, so there may be visual differences in MSFS 2024.