Gautam Buddha International Airport

Compiled by Bill Gao

Siddharthanagar (Bhairahawa), Lumbini Province (Nepal)

IATA: BWA ICAO: VNBW

Longest Active Runway

9,843 ft

3,000 meters

Field Elevation

358 ft

109 m MSL

Runway Inventory

1 active

Lighted / Paved

Coordinates & Class

27.5046°, 83.4104°

LARGE AIRPORT

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Multi-Universe Rankings & Statistical Standing

How ranks work →

RunwayFacts Published Dataset

tied #603 of 650

In curated primary commercial index

Global Commercial Universe

#1,153 of 7558

Top 15.9% percentile worldwide

For airports with equal runway length, the worldwide order does not indicate a length difference.

National Standing (Nepal)

#2 of 2 in NP

#2 of 23 in full national registry

vs Large Airport Median

-1.6%

Compared to 10,000 ft baseline

💡 BWA in numbers: 9,843 ft longest runway · tied #603 of 650 published · #1,153 of 7,558 worldwide (top 15.9%) · #2 in Nepal.

🔬 Operational & Aerodrome Engineering Comparative Analysis

Longest runway 8,000–10,499 ft

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Elevation & National Context

Lowland Aerodrome (<2,000 ft)

BWA lies at 109 m (358 ft), #310 of 650 published airports by elevation and 46.1 percentile among 7,558 worldwide. It is 2,016 ft below the Nepal median (2,374 ft, 2 airports); KTM is highest at 4,390 ft, 4,032 ft higher than BWA.

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Regional Density & Alternates (100 NM)

0 Qualifying Aerodromes in Vicinity

No published neighbour with a paved runway of 5,000 ft or more within 100 NM of BWA. Nearest published airport: Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM), 104 NM, 10,991 ft (1,148 ft longer than BWA); 1 within 250 NM.

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Runway Inventory & National Standing

Primary Runway: 9,843 ft (3,000 m)

BWA runway: 10/28 9,843 × 148 ft asphalt (asp). National standing: #2 of 2 in Nepal; KTM leads by 1,148 ft (10,991 ft). −1.6% vs the 10,000 ft baseline.

🛫 Physical Runway Inventory & Surface Engineering

Runway Designator	Length (ft / m)	Width (ft / m)	Surface Material	Lighting	Status
10/28	9,843 ft (3000 m / 3.000 km)	148 ft (45m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active

🛡️ Source: OurAirports Open Aviation Database, snapshot 2026-09-01 · Provenance →