© Roman Raghu Shrestha / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0What a helicopter does in Nepal
Five jobs, from one shared seat over Everest at first light to a same-day rescue out of the Khumbu. All of them flown by CAAN-certified operators, none of them flown by us.
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Which one do you actually need?
Five descriptions answer “what is this” five times and “which of these is me” not once. Find your situation on the left.
| If this is you | What to book | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One or two of us, and we want to see Everest or Annapurna | Shared seat | You join a departure other travellers are filling and pay per person instead of for five seats. |
| Four or five of us, or we want to choose the departure time | Scenic tour, whole aircraft | From about four people the whole helicopter costs less per head than seats, and the morning becomes yours. |
| We need to get from A to B and the view is not the point | Private charter | A transfer between any two landing sites — Lukla out, a missed connection, an airfield with no scheduled service. |
| Somebody is ill or injured above the road head | Medical rescue | Call, do not fill in a form. Nepali rescue is dispatched by voice and minutes matter at altitude. |
| We are carrying equipment, filming, surveying or supplying a site | Company and custom work | Priced against the job rather than a tour rate, and flown by operators holding the right aerial-work approval. |
Scenic and tour flights
Everest, Annapurna and Langtang from the air, back the same morning.
This is the classic Nepal helicopter trip. You take off from Kathmandu or Pokhara at first light, fly up the valley while the air is still calm, land high up for a short photo stop, and get back in time for lunch.
Most tours take three to five hours from door to door. That includes a fuel stop and a short landing at the viewpoint. Everest tours include breakfast at Hotel Everest View. Annapurna tours land inside the sanctuary itself.
The air is very thin above 5,000 m. Landings are kept short on purpose, and the pilot often takes the group up in two trips so the helicopter is not carrying too much weight. This is done for safety, not to save money.
© shankar s. / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0Private charters
The whole helicopter, your timing, nobody else on board.
Book the whole helicopter for your group. You pick the date, the plan and the take off time. The only limits are the weather and the rest hours the crew has to follow.
This suits families, small groups, film crews and anyone carrying equipment. It is also the only choice on restricted routes like Upper Mustang, where each permit covers one helicopter.
You pay for the helicopter, not for each person. So a group of five usually pays less each than five people buying single seats.
© Daniel Oberhaus / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Shared seat bookings
Buy one or two seats on a flight other travellers are already filling.
Most scenic helicopters carry five people. If there are two of you, there is no need to pay for five. You can buy two seats on a flight other travellers are already filling.
Sharing costs far less. An Everest tour is about $4,000 for the whole helicopter and about $500 a seat when you share it.
The catch is that you have less control. A shared flight needs a set number of seats sold before it can go, and the operator picks the exact time. If it does not fill, they will offer you another date or give all your money back.
© Bijay Chaurasia / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0Medical rescue flights
Emergency flights out of the trekking areas. Call us to start one.
Altitude sickness, injury and illness in the high valleys need a helicopter, and they need it the same day. We send emergency requests straight to operators who keep crews ready and can lift people out on a rope where there is nowhere to land.
Please call instead of sending an email. Rescue flights in Nepal are arranged by phone, and email is far too slow when someone is getting worse at 5,000 m.
The operator flying you covers the helicopter and everyone on board with their own insurance. We check that their licence and their insurance are still valid before they can take any work here. There is nothing for you to arrange.
© Vyacheslav Argenberg / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0Company and custom flights
Regular transport, survey work, filming and cargo flights.
For companies that move people or equipment to a schedule. This covers getting to a work site, survey and mapping flights, filming from the air, and staff transport between Kathmandu and airfields around the country.
Regular work is agreed straight with the operator at a rate you settle between you, rather than the standard tour price.
Tell us what you need and we will show you the operators who can actually do it.
© Vyacheslav Argenberg / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0Not sure which service fits?
Tell us what you need and we will point you at the operators who can actually do it.