The Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) was shut down for 15 minutes Tuesday afternoon following lack of coordination while burning of waste materials at the northern part of the airport.
The tower did not know the reason and stopped flights after seeing smoke, according to an TIA official.
Another official stated that the person who lit the fire at the dumping site could not estimate the extent to which the fire can expand, and the airport had to be shut down as it grew bigger. The airport was back in operation after 15 minutes.
There was no loss due to the fire though.