Any two landing sites in Nepal
Whole aircraft, your timing
Every licensed operator that can fly this trip will price your dates. You pay nothing until you accept one.
The whole helicopter, between any two places in Nepal, on your own timetable.
This leg is already published as a flight, with typical fares on its page — usually cheaper than chartering the whole helicopter. Your price still comes from the quotes we collect.
© shankar s. / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0Kathmandu to Kala Patthar and back in a morning: a fuel stop at Lukla, breakfast at Hotel Everest View and a landing at the 5,545 m viewpoint that looks straight at Everest.
Per person, from
US$499Whole aircraft, from
US$3,800This leg, chartered
Chartering a whole helicopter from Kathmandu to Kala Patthar and back is about 1.6 hours on the hour meter: 39–41 minutes in the air each way over 148 km, plus the start-up, taxi and shutdown that block time bills for. At the US$1,800–2,600 an hour operators here quote for a five-seat single, that is roughly US$2,900–4,150 of flying before positioning, ground time and any daily minimum are added. Kala Patthar sits at 18,192 ft (5,545 m), where a breath holds 50% of the oxygen it holds at sea level — which is what decides how many of your party the aircraft can lift, not the seat count. Every common charter helicopter type can fly it out and back without a fuel stop.
The distance and air time above are computed from surveyed coordinates — the full Kathmandu to Kala Patthar measurement shows the working. What the height at Kala Patthar does to an aircraft is set out on the Kala Patthar altitude page. Both ends have their own aerodrome record — Kathmandu Tribhuvan International and Kala Patthar — with codes, elevation and every route through them.
Asked about this leg
A round trip from Kathmandu to Kala Patthar runs about 1.6 hours of block time, which at the US$1,800–2,600 hourly band operators on this marketplace quote comes to roughly US$2,900–4,150 of flying. That is the aircraft only. Positioning — bringing the helicopter to Kathmandu empty if it is based elsewhere — the operator's daily minimum and any landing fees sit on top, and they are why two operators quoting the same hourly rate return different totals. Operators set their price; any Go Heli Nepal service fee is shown as its own line on your quote.
Charter helicopters in Nepal run from 5 passenger seats to 9 on a Bell 412EP, and a charter buys the whole cabin rather than a seat in it. At Kala Patthar's 18,192 ft the seat count stops being the limit: thin air cuts what the aircraft can lift, so a full cabin on paper is often flown as two shuttles or with weight left behind. Give every passenger's real weight when you ask and the quotes come back flyable.
Kathmandu to Kala Patthar and back is 160 nautical miles. Every common charter helicopter type can fly that out and back without a fuel stop. Fuel is sold at only a handful of Nepali airfields, so an aircraft that cannot carry the round trip has to plan a stop — and that stop is block time, which means it is money on the quote. Ask every operator at once and the ones that can fly it direct are visible immediately.
Operators publish this leg in March, April, May, September, October, November and December. Charter is a first-light activity in Nepal — Himalayan valleys cloud over as the day warms — so a morning slot is both likelier to go and likelier to go on time, and a flight cancelled for weather is not charged.
Before anybody quotes you
Above about 12,000 ft the seat count stops being the answer. Enter your party’s real weights and the landing site, and see which aircraft can take them.
Wondering how long the leg itself is? The flight-time calculator gives the distance between any two landing sites in Nepal and the time in the air — which, on a charter priced by the hour, is most of the quote.
Not sure which to pick?
Both end with a licensed operator flying you. The difference is who sets the price.
A flight we already publish — the Everest tour to Kala Patthar, Muktinath, Annapurna Base Camp. Typical fares are on its page before you ask, seats can be shared with other travellers, and the desk collects the quotes.
Browse packagesAnywhere to anywhere: transfers, expedition support, cargo, a landing site with no published product. You describe the leg once and every operator able to fly it comes back with its own price for the whole aircraft.
Price a legThe figures above are for Kathmandu to Kala Patthar. What a charter costs in Nepal, and the four things that move a quote — block time, positioning, the daily minimum and landing fees — is on the charter hub.
Leave a number instead. A dispatcher works out the legs, the aircraft and the positioning with you on the phone — which is faster than any form when the plan is still moving.