Everest Base Camp
5,364 m
Lukla
2,845 m
25 mins
7:00 AM
$600
per seat
$2,000
aircraft
CAAN licensed
Free weather reschedule
Namche to Everest Base Camp helicopter tour
Namche Bazaar
3,440 m
Everest Base Camp
5,364 m
- Flight time
- 45 mins return
- Seats
- 5
- Baggage
- 5 kg
- From
- $500
Flight overview
Flying Namche to Everest Base Camp helicopter tour
| Route | Departs | Seats | Flight time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Namche to Everest Base Camp helicopter tour | 7:00 AM | 5 | 45 mins return |
For trekkers already in the Khumbu, this is the short version of the Everest Base Camp tour: forty-five minutes return from Namche, with a landing above five thousand metres, for less than half the Kathmandu price.
The aircraft runs up the Imja valley past Tengboche, Pangboche and Pheriche, crosses onto the Khumbu Glacier and overflies base camp and the icefall before putting down at Kala Patthar or Gorakshep. You get the same view of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and Ama Dablam as the full tour, from a starting point two thousand metres closer.
The acclimatisation advantage
This is the real argument for taking the tour from Namche rather than Kathmandu. A passenger who has slept two nights at 3,440 metres handles a landing at 5,545 metres far better than one who was at 1,400 metres ninety minutes earlier. Fewer headaches, less breathlessness, more of the view actually enjoyed.
Using the acclimatisation day
Most people who book this do it on their rest day at Namche. It is a good use of a morning. It does not, however, substitute for the acclimatisation hike, and going high in an aircraft does nothing for your adaptation to altitude.
If you are walking to base camp anyway
Seeing it from the air a week before you walk there does not diminish the walk. But if budget or time forces a choice between this flight and the trek itself, the trek is the better experience by a distance.
- From
- Namche Bazaar
- Aircraft
- AS350 B3e / H125
- Passenger insurance
- Included
- Flight rules
- Visual, daylight only
Pilot advisory
A single early departure. This tour needs clear air over the upper Khumbu and there is rarely a second chance later in the day. Being already acclimatised at Namche makes the high landing considerably more comfortable than it is for passengers arriving from Kathmandu.
Pricing
What this flight costs, and what it does not include
Both figures are the price we quote on WhatsApp. A shared seat puts you on a scheduled departure with other travellers. A private charter is the whole aircraft on your schedule.
Included
- Confirmed seat or aircraft on the stated departure
- All government taxes on the charter
- High landing at Kala Patthar or Gorakshep, conditions permitting
- Passenger liability insurance
- Free rescheduling if the flight is held for weather
Not included
- Sagarmatha National Park entry fee
- Personal travel and medical insurance
- Supplementary oxygen, available on request
- Meals and accommodation
- Anything arising from a delay outside our control
We publish how these prices are set and when they move. Read the price transparency policy.
Operators
CAAN licensed operators
We charter aircraft only from operators that hold a current air operator certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Each one below is reviewed by us before we put passengers on their aircraft.
Air Dynasty Heli Services
Manang Air
Simrik Air
Mountain Helicopters
Altitude Air
Heli Everest
Kailash Helicopter Services
Prabhu Helicopter
Upcoming departures
The next flights on this route
All departures are subject to visual flight rules and weather. Seat counts are confirmed with operators each morning.
Landing site
Where you land at Everest Base Camp
- Helipad
- Everest Base Camp, seasonal pads on the Khumbu Glacier
- Area
- Khumbu, Everest region
- Altitude
- 5,364 m
- Coordinates
- 28.00260, 86.85280
Base camp sits on moving glacier ice. Pads are established seasonally by expeditions and shift year to year. Landings are only made during the spring and autumn seasons, by prior arrangement, and only when the surface has been confirmed.
Safety
What you need to know before you board
You will go from 3,440 metres to above 5,000 in under twenty minutes. If you have been at Namche for two nights, your body is in a far better position than someone flying up from Kathmandu, but the gain is still abrupt.
Time on the ground at the high landing is ten to fifteen minutes. Move slowly and tell the crew if you feel unwell. Oxygen is carried.
Five kilos of baggage. This is a sightseeing flight and the payload is needed for fuel at altitude.
Questions
What travellers ask about this route
It costs less than half, and because you are already acclimatised the high landing is much more comfortable. The trade is that you have to be in Namche in the first place.
Normally at Kala Patthar or Gorakshep, with an overflight of base camp and the icefall. Base camp landings depend on seasonal pads that expeditions build on moving ice and cannot be guaranteed.
Yes, and it is the most popular way to use the day. Bear in mind that going to 5,000 metres and back does not count as acclimatisation for the trek ahead.
About an hour and a half door to door, including the walk up to the pad and the wait.
Plenty of people do both, and seeing it from the air first does not spoil the walk. If you are choosing one, walk it.
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