---
title: "Helicopter flights in Nepal"
description: "Every published helicopter route in Nepal with the lowest per-seat and whole-aircraft fares operators have published for it."
source: "https://gohelinepal.com/flights"
markdown: "https://gohelinepal.com/md/flights.md"
site: "Go Heli Nepal"
---

# Helicopter routes in Nepal

Prices below are the lowest fares operators have published for each route — indicative, not a quote. Your price comes from the quotes the Go Heli Nepal desk collects.

| Route | Category | Flight time | From, per seat | From, whole aircraft | URL |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour | tour | 4h | US$499 | US$3,800 | https://gohelinepal.com/flights/everest-base-camp-helicopter-tour |
| Annapurna Base Camp Helicopter Tour | tour | 2h | US$399 | US$1,850 | https://gohelinepal.com/flights/annapurna-base-camp-helicopter-tour |
| Muktinath Darshan Helicopter | pilgrimage | 2h 30m | US$350 | US$1,700 | https://gohelinepal.com/flights/muktinath-darshan-helicopter |
| Langtang Valley Helicopter Tour | tour | 2h 30m | US$575 | US$2,600 | https://gohelinepal.com/flights/langtang-valley-helicopter-tour |
| Gosaikunda Lake Helicopter Tour | pilgrimage | 2h | US$499 | US$2,300 | https://gohelinepal.com/flights/gosaikunda-lake-helicopter-tour |
| Upper Mustang & Lo Manthang Tour | expedition | 4h | — | US$3,200 | https://gohelinepal.com/flights/upper-mustang-lo-manthang-tour |
| Pathibhara Temple Helicopter | pilgrimage | 3h 45m | US$1,050 | US$4,800 | https://gohelinepal.com/flights/pathibhara-temple-helicopter |

## Kinds of flight

### Scenic tours (`tour`)

A fixed profile the operator flies repeatedly — Everest, Annapurna, Langtang — with a set viewpoint landing and a set duration. Sold by the seat or by the aircraft. These leave at first light and are normally back before lunch.

### Pilgrimage (`pilgrimage`)

Muktinath, Pathibhara, Gosaikunda. Structurally the same flight as a scenic tour with one difference that matters: the ground time is 45 to 90 minutes rather than 10, because you are there to complete a darshan rather than to photograph a ridge. Priced accordingly.

### Point to point (`charter`)

Lukla to Kathmandu, Kathmandu to Bhadrapur, or any two landing sites in Nepal. You are buying the sector, not a view. These run year-round, go at short notice, and are the fastest way out of the mountains when a fixed-wing flight is grounded.

### Expedition (`expedition`)

Upper Mustang, Dolpo, Manaslu Base Camp drop-offs and load carrying for climbing teams. Almost always whole-aircraft, because restricted-area permits are issued per helicopter rather than per passenger, and they need several days' notice.

### Medevac (`medevac`)

Altitude sickness, injury and illness above the road head. Operators keep crews on call and can lift a casualty on a longline where there is nowhere to land. Do not use a booking form for one of these — call, because Nepali rescue is coordinated by voice.

## Questions

### What is the cheapest helicopter flight in Nepal?

Shared seats on the shorter pilgrimage and valley routes are the cheapest way into a helicopter in Nepal, starting around USD 350 per person for Muktinath and around USD 400 for Annapurna Base Camp. Everest routes cost more because they are longer, climb higher and need a fuel stop. The cheapest whole-aircraft flights are the short transfers rather than the tours. An empty leg — a helicopter that has to fly home anyway — is cheaper than any of them, but you have to take the date it is going.

### Is it cheaper to book a seat or the whole helicopter?

On the Everest tour a seat is cheaper at every group size. The whole five-seat helicopter costs roughly seven to eight times one shared seat — about USD 3,800 to 4,500 against USD 500 to 575 — so even five people pay about USD 900 to 2,000 more between them for the aircraft than for five seats. What that buys is the departure time, a longer stop or an extra landing, and nobody else on board, which a shared flight never gives you. Sharing wins on price and loses on flexibility.

### Can I fly between any two places in Nepal by helicopter?

Broadly yes, and the routes listed here are only the published ones. Any two landing sites in the country can be chartered as a point-to-point sector, including sites with no published price, and operators will quote a leg that appears nowhere on this page. Restricted areas — Upper Mustang, Dolpo, the northern border districts — need a permit issued per aircraft and several days' notice. Weather and daylight are the real constraints, not the map.

### How many people fit in a helicopter in Nepal?

Five passengers in the Airbus H125 (the AS350 family), which is what almost all mountain work is flown on, and nine in the twin-engine Bell 412 used for cargo and rescue. The five-seat figure holds at low altitude. Above about 5,000 m the same aircraft often carries only two at a time — at Kala Patthar the exact number depends on the passengers' weight and that morning's temperature — so a full group is shuttled up from an intermediate point such as Pheriche — the flight is not shorter, it is flown twice.

### How far in advance do helicopter routes get booked out?

In October, November, March and April, shared seats on the Everest and Annapurna tours fill two to four weeks ahead and whole aircraft on a fixed date go earlier than that. Outside those months a day or two is usually enough. Point-to-point transfers and all rescue flights are arranged the same day, year-round. Asking costs nothing and the desk aims to have prices back within four hours, so there is no reason to hold a date by guessing.

### Do helicopter prices in Nepal change with the season?

Yes, though less than hotel prices do. Operators quote higher in the two peak windows because every aircraft is committed, and lower in the monsoon when they are not. Aviation fuel is the larger driver: it is imported, priced in dollars, and a fuel move passes into charter rates within weeks. Because the prices here start from what operators quote, the figures on this page move when theirs do.