AirportsTenzing-Hillary Airport is a medium-sized airport serving Lukla, in Koshi Province, Nepal. It has scheduled airline flights. Its IATA code, the three letters printed on tickets and baggage tags, is LUA.
Key facts
- IATA code
- LUA
- ICAO code
- VNLK
- City
- Lukla
- State or region
- Koshi Province
- Country
- Nepal
- Kind
- Medium airport
- Coordinates
- 27.6868° N, 86.7295° E
- Elevation
- 2,859 m (9,380 ft)
- Runways
- 1
- Longest runway
- 527 m (1,729 ft)
Airport codes
On a ticket or a baggage tag, LUA means Tenzing-Hillary Airport. Pilots and air traffic controllers use a different, four-letter ICAO code: VNLK. ICAO codes that begin with V belong to South Asia and mainland South-East Asia. How the two kinds of code differ.
Where it is
The airport lies at 27.6868° N, 86.7295° E. It stands 2,859 metres (9,380 feet) above sea level. That is high for an airport. Thin air at this height means aircraft need a longer run to take off. The nearest large city in our data is Lahān, about 110 km away in a straight line.
Local time
Time now at the airport: loading
Time zone Asia/Kathmandu, taken from the nearest town in the data. Flight times on tickets are always in the local time of each airport.
Runways
Tenzing-Hillary Airport has 1 runway in the data. The longest is 527 metres (1,729 feet). That is a short runway, used mostly by propeller aircraft. Among the 16 airports of Nepal on this site with runway data, its longest runway ranks number 16.
| Runway | Length | Width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06/24 | 527 m 1,729 ft | 30 m | Asphalt | not listed |
The numbers in a runway name give its compass direction. How runway numbers work.
Nearest airports with scheduled flights
| Airport | Code | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Tumling Tar AirportTumling Tar | TMI | 62 km |
| Shigatse Tingri AirportXigazê (Dingri), China | DDR | 102 km |
| Taplejung AirportTaplejung | TPJ | 102 km |
| Janakpur AirportJanakpur | JKR | 135 km |
| Tribhuvan International AirportKathmandu | KTM | 135 km |
Distance to major airports
| To | Distance | Rough flying time |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi (DEL)India | 949 km | 1 h 40 min |
| Mumbai (BOM)India | 1,705 km | 2 h 35 min |
| Dubai (DXB)United Arab Emirates | 3,125 km | 4 h 15 min |
| London Heathrow (LHR)United Kingdom | 7,451 km | 9 h 30 min |
| New York JFK (JFK)United States | 12,156 km | 15 h 10 min |
| Los Angeles (LAX)United States | 12,668 km | 15 h 45 min |
| Singapore (SIN)Singapore | 3,458 km | 4 h 40 min |
| Tokyo Haneda (HND)Japan | 5,039 km | 6 h 35 min |
| Sydney (SYD)Australia | 9,642 km | 12 h 05 min |
Distances are the shortest path over the globe, worked out from the coordinates. Flying times are rough estimates for a direct jet flight. They do not mean that a direct flight exists. Work out the distance to any airport.
Links
Airport data: OurAirports, as downloaded on 11 November 2026. This page does not show live flights, terminals or airlines. For those, use the airport's or the airline's own site. See About and data sources.