Airports
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Every airport and landing site we fly from
This platform quotes helicopter flights through 8 Nepali aerodromes and 10 Himalayan landing sites, from Kathmandu at 4,390 ft to Kala Patthar landing site at 18,192 ft. Every one of them is listed below with its ICAO and IATA codes, its surveyed elevation in feet and metres, and the published routes that run through it.
Aerodromes with an ICAO code
Himalayan landing sites
Highest, at Kala Patthar
This platform quotes helicopter flights through 8 Nepali aerodromes and 10 Himalayan landing sites, from Kathmandu at 4,390 ft to Kala Patthar landing site at 18,192 ft. Every one of them is listed below with its ICAO and IATA codes, its surveyed elevation in feet and metres, and the published routes that run through it.
Aerodromes
Registered airports
Nepali aerodromes with an ICAO code, and an IATA code where scheduled airlines use one. These are the places a fixed-wing aircraft can reach as well as a helicopter.
- Biratnagar AirportVNVT · BIR · 236 ft · 1 route
- Jomsom AirportVNJS · JMO · 8,976 ft · charter on request
- Kathmandu Tribhuvan International AirportVNKT · KTM · 4,390 ft · 6 routes
- Lukla Tenzing-Hillary AirportVNLK · LUA · 9,334 ft · 2 routes
- Nepalgunj AirportVNNG · KEP · 540 ft · charter on request
- Pokhara AirportVNPK · PKR · 2,712 ft · 3 routes
- Syangboche AirportVNSB · 12,402 ft · charter on request
- Tumlingtar AirportVNTR · TMI · 1,600 ft · charter on request
Landing sites
Helipads with no runway
Base camps, passes and temple sites. None of these has an ICAO code, because none of them is an aerodrome — the codes below are this platform's own identifiers, used so a dispatcher and a pilot are naming the same patch of ground.
- Annapurna Base CampKaski · 13,550 ft · 4,130 m
- Everest Base CampKhumbu · 17,598 ft · 5,364 m
- Gosaikunda landing siteRasuwa · 14,370 ft · 4,380 m
- Hotel Everest View landing siteSyangboche · 12,729 ft · 3,880 m
- Kala Patthar landing siteKhumbu · 18,192 ft · 5,545 m
- Kyanjin Gompa landing siteLangtang · 12,697 ft · 3,870 m
- Lo Manthang landing siteUpper Mustang · 12,500 ft · 3,810 m
- Manaslu Base CampGorkha · 15,750 ft · 4,801 m
- Muktinath landing siteMustang · 12,172 ft · 3,710 m
- Pathibhara Temple landing siteTaplejung · 12,444 ft · 3,793 m
How high each of these is, and what the air does up there, is the altitude and oxygen table — Kala Patthar landing site, the highest of them, is 18,192 ft, with roughly half the oxygen of the coast.
Asked about Nepal's airports
Codes, heights and what can land
How many airports are there in Nepal?
Nepal has around fifty aerodromes, most of them short mountain strips, and three of them are designated international — Kathmandu, Pokhara and Gautam Buddha at Bhairahawa. This platform quotes helicopter flights through eight: Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lukla, Jomsom, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Tumlingtar and Syangboche. Alongside them are ten Himalayan landing sites that have no ICAO code at all, because they are helipads rather than aerodromes.
What is the closest airport to Mount Everest?
Syangboche, at about 29 km from the summit in a straight line, is the nearest registered airport — but the one almost everyone means is Lukla Tenzing-Hillary, ICAO VNLK and IATA LUA, about 39 km out. Lukla has the scheduled service and is where the Everest treks and most Everest helicopter itineraries begin; Syangboche is an unpaved strip above Namche Bazaar with no scheduled flights. Closer than either are the helicopter landing sites at Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar, and neither of those is an airport or has a runway.
What is the highest airport in Nepal?
Syangboche, above Namche Bazaar, at 12,402 ft (3,780 m) — the same airstrip that is nearest the summit of Everest. Lukla follows at 9,334 ft (2,845 m) and Jomsom at 8,976 ft (2,736 m). Higher than any of them are the helicopter landing sites, which are not airports: Kala Patthar at 18,192 ft (5,545 m) is the highest place on this platform that an aircraft is quoted to.
Which Nepali airports can a helicopter land at?
All of them, and a great many places that are not airports at all. That is the point of the aircraft: a helicopter needs a level site and a clear approach rather than a runway, which is why ten of the eighteen sites listed on this page are helipads at base camps and temples with no ICAO code and no scheduled service of any kind.
Does Pokhara have an international airport?
Yes. Pokhara Regional International Airport, ICAO VNPK and IATA PKR, sits at 2,712 ft (827 m) and opened in 2023, though scheduled international service through it has been limited and almost all of Nepal's international traffic still moves through Kathmandu. For helicopter charter the distinction does not arise: Pokhara is the departure point for the Annapurna, Muktinath and Upper Mustang flights on this platform, and all of them are domestic.
Flying somewhere that is not on this list?
Leave a number. A helicopter needs a level site and a clear approach rather than a runway, and whether a particular place can be flown to is a question a dispatcher answers against the aircraft, the weather and the landing permissions.