The Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal typically handles 40 flights per day, but in the aftermath of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake, that number has nearly doubled.
Military and emergency relief crews are trying to get in, while travelers who have been stranded since the disaster are struggling to get out.
"We don't have any prior advance notification of rescue flight movements from abroad, of how many and which countries and how many aircraft. That is one problem," Tek Nath Sitaula, the airport's deputy director, told The Straits Times Tuesday. "We have only nine parking bays."
He said the situation "is improving day by day."
Scene at #Kathmandu airport. Scores of tourists sleeping on the roadside & pavement outside with hope flights resume pic.twitter.com/4twzFdC5G8— Rakesh Wahi (@rickiwahi) April 25, 2015
More than 4,400 people in Nepal have died, and the death toll is expected to rise. Saturday's earthquake has left thousands homeless and reduced World Heritage sites to rubble.
UNESCO chief Irina Borokova called the situation a "huge disaster."
At the airport, planes carrying food and other supplies have been steadily arriving, but the aid distribution process remains fairly chaotic, with Nepalese officials having difficulty directing the flow of emergency supplies. Across Nepal, transportation options have been damaged or disabled because of the earthquake and aftershocks.
Several foreign governments sent planes to evacuate many of their citizens after the earthquake. Assistance has varied, however, depending on one's nationality.
American Casey Schreiner posted on Facebook Tuesday that a number of travelers remained stranded at the airport, referring to conditions there as a "refugee camp."
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Other travelers at the airport echoed the same sentiment.
“There is a refugee feel to it,” German tourist Stefan Syrigos, who waited two days at Kathmandu's airport for a flight back to Europe, told TIME.
Many travelers who had prior plans to travel to Nepal in the days and weeks after the earthquake are frustrated by the process of rebooking or canceling flights.
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Customers on Etihad Airways expressed frustration the airline was not giving refunds on flights to Kathmandu, and accused the airline of being misleading.
On Facebook, the airline said it was encouraging "any guests who do not need to urgently travel to KTM to re-book on an alternate date or seek a refund, as per the fare rules on their ticket. All guests booked to travel to KTM during the coming days are being notified of this option."
However, several passengers were not able to get a refund, and it was unclear to which dates the airline was extending the exception.
@J_Leis @EtihadAirways No. Notice how they said "as per the fare rules" - these statements by Etihad have been very misleading.— cvdubs (@vdubs90) April 28, 2015
@Orbitz @EtihadAirways @EtihadHelp no help w refund flight to Kat Nepal! $450 U.S. Fee to cancel per person . #capitalizingonearthquake— aida barnhart (@gogobuxx) April 27, 2015
Etihad did not immediately respond to Mashable's request for comment.
Other airlines are working to assist after the disaster: United is offering reward miles in exchange for donations to the relief effort, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press