Pokhara to Kathmandu
Guna Airlines flight GNA 056
Pokhara Airport (PKR) - Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM)
STD 1340 STA 1410
ATD 1342 ATA 1405
Aircraft Beechcraft 1900D
Seat 8A
I was so eager to get on this flight that, even though I visited the nearby
International Mountain Museum I still arrived at Pokhara Airport around 1 hour and 40 minutes prior to my flight time. Although my ticket stated that one was to arrive at the airport one hour prior to their flight time, most of the passengers I observed, from my makshift couch constructed from my backpack and a large towel, arrived just 15-20 minutes before their flight time. Well, I guess Nepal is pretty close to India, so that explained it.
I wandered back outside to take some photos of the airport's exterior.
Looking toward the car park, the air field is behind.
Returning to my seat, I read
The Economist, pausing intermittently to take photos of the terminal. Any of the large number of security staff could have stopped me, but they didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Un-manned Guna Airlines checkin counter.
Other airlines' checkin counters.
A small crowd of about 6 people began to mill about the Guna checkin counter about 45 minutes prior to departure. Two young Nepalese ladies enquired with Yeti Airlines' ground staff as to what was happening with our flight. They were directed to the Guna Airlines office somewhere in the terminal. This worried me a little. Five minutes later, however, they returned with a disheveled middle-aged man who had clearly been sleeping until very recently. A somewhat orderly queue formed and after he had wiped the sleep from his eyes, the Guna agent began checking people in. I admired my paper ticket for the last time ...
Impersonal boarding pass.
... or so I thought. The remarkably simple checkin process consisted of the agent flipping through my passport, tearing out the handwritten page of my ticket and returning the passport, and the remainder of the ticket booklet to me. I asked for a window seat (on the left hand side as Lonely Planet had recommended) and was duly informed that the flight was free-seating. Indeed, the boarding pass had no seat number. Or name. Much like the time I had to escape from Burma on Air Bagan carrying one sick girlfriend and two large backpacks. I must remember to write a TR for that experience one of these days. Anyway, boarding pass in hand I went for a roam around the terminal, before heading to security.
Somewhat out of date FIDS. This shot was taken at 1315hrs.
Checked luggage screening. I found a security sticker loosely adhered to my backpack when I arrived in KTM. Several of the zippers had also been shut with cable ties.
Security was entirely manual. A fairly bored security agent showed me into a small cubicle with curtains serving as the front and back walls. There he conducted the quickest of pat down searches and looked into one of the with pockets in my bag. With OBL's body not yet cold I was hoping for slightly more stringent security. I emerged from the back of the screening area into a surprisingly large departure area.
Every airport has a tacky souvenir shop. This one was tackier than most.
Departure gate.
