# Gautam Buddha International Airport (BWA / VNBW)

**Gautam Buddha International Airport** (IATA: BWA, ICAO: VNBW) is a large airport in Siddharthanagar (Bhairahawa), Lumbini Province, Nepal. It opened on 8 Jul 1958. It has one runway, 3,000 m (9,843 ft) long, asphalt. In 2019 it handled 388 thousand passengers.

Web page: https://dromopedia.com/airports/vnbw

## At a glance

- IATA / ICAO: BWA / VNBW
- Type: Large airport
- Serves: Siddharthanagar (Bhairahawa), Lumbini Province, Nepal
- Opened: 8 Jul 1958 (Wikipedia)
- Elevation: 109 m / 358 ft
- Coordinates: 27.5046, 83.4104
- Runways: 1
- Longest runway: 3,000 m / 9,843 ft
- Passengers: 388,378 (2019)
- Time zone: UTC+5:45 · Asia/Kathmandu
- Website: https://gbia.caanepal.gov.np/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautam_Buddha_International_Airport (22 languages)
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3275873
- Weather station: VNBW · WMO 44438
- Ident: VNBW

## Timeline

- 8 Jul 1958: Gautam Buddha International Airport opens.

## Runways

| Ident | Length | Width | Surface | True headings | Lighted |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 10/28 | 3,000 m / 9,843 ft | 45 m / 148 ft | Asphalt | 099° / 279° | yes |

## Passengers per year

| Year | Passengers | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2006 | 66,499 | Wikidata |
| 2007 | 52,495 | Wikidata |
| 2008 | 60,882 | Wikidata |
| 2009 | 83,861 | Wikidata |
| 2010 | 84,349 | Wikidata |
| 2011 | 119,508 | Wikidata |
| 2014 | 109,731 | Wikidata |
| 2015 | 107,914 | Wikidata |
| 2016 | 168,421 | Wikidata |
| 2017 | 300,393 | Wikidata |
| 2018 | 377,692 | Wikidata |
| 2019 | 388,378 | Wikidata |

## Routes

3 destinations in 2 countries. From the airport's Wikipedia article.

### Year-round (3)

- [PHH](https://dromopedia.com/airports/np-0003.md) Pokhara International Airport · Nepal · 96 km / 60 mi · Buddha Air
- [KTM](https://dromopedia.com/airports/vnkt.md) Tribhuvan International Airport · Nepal · 193 km / 120 mi · Yeti Airlines, Buddha Air, Shree Airlines
- [DMK](https://dromopedia.com/airports/vtbd.md) Don Mueang International Airport · Thailand · 2,336 km / 1,452 mi · Thai AirAsia

## Airlines

The figure is how many destinations each airline flies from BWA, as the routes above have them. Hubs from Wikidata.

### Passenger (4)

- U4 [Buddha Air](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/buddha-air) · 2
- N9 [Shree Airlines](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/shree-airlines) · 1
- FD [Thai AirAsia](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/thai-airasia) · 1
- YT [Yeti Airlines](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/yeti-airlines) · 1

## Rankings

Ranked among 48,075 open airports; = marks a shared place.

| Measure | Value | World | Region | Country |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Passengers | 388K (2019) | #1,225 of 3,974 | #397 in Asia | #5 in NP |
| Longest runway | 3,000 m / 9,843 ft | =1,196 of 29,858 | =339 in Asia | #2 in NP |
| Elevation | 109 m / 358 ft | =29,981 of 43,403 | =1,664 in Asia | #45 in NP |
| Age | Opened 1958 | =4,324 of 15,079 | =241 in Asia | =2 in NP |
| Runways | 1 | =4,364 of 29,978 | =185 in Asia | =1 in NP |

## Radio frequencies

| Type | Description | MHz |
| --- | --- | --- |
| TWR | TWR | 122.500 |

## Nearby airports

- [GOP](https://dromopedia.com/airports/vegk.md) Gorakhpur Airport · 85 km / 53 mi
- [KBK](https://dromopedia.com/airports/veki.md) Kushinagar International Airport · 94 km / 58 mi
- [PKR](https://dromopedia.com/airports/vnpk.md) Pokhara Domestic Airport · 96 km / 59 mi
- [PHH](https://dromopedia.com/airports/np-0003.md) Pokhara International Airport · 96 km / 60 mi
- [AYJ](https://dromopedia.com/airports/in-0025.md) Maharshi Valmiki International Airport · 149 km / 93 mi

## Sources

- [NOAA Aviation Weather Center](https://aviationweather.gov/data/api/): Weather data: NOAA Aviation Weather Center (Public Domain (US Government))
- [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/data/): Airport data from OurAirports (Public Domain)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org): Structured data from Wikidata (CC0 1.0)
- [Wikipedia: “Gautam Buddha International Airport”](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gautam_Buddha_International_Airport&oldid=1371389669), revision of 26 Aug 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [timezone-boundary-builder](https://github.com/evansiroky/timezone-boundary-builder): Time zone boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors, timezone-boundary-builder (ODbL 1.0)
- Every figure with its source: https://dromopedia.com/airports/vnbw/data