Lukla flights explained: Ramechhap, delays and what to plan

Tenzing-Hillary Airport at Lukla (2,860 m) has a short, sloping runway on a mountainside, built into a narrow valley. Only small planes with experienced mountain pilots land there, and they fly by sight. That means they need clear weather at both ends and in the valleys between.

Flights leave in the morning, when the air is calmest and clouds have not yet built up. If a morning starts cloudy in Lukla, flights wait. If the cloud does not clear, they are cancelled and everyone moves to the next day's list.

Outside the busy seasons, flights to Lukla leave from Kathmandu's domestic terminal and take about 35 minutes. In spring and autumn, to ease traffic on Kathmandu's single runway, most Lukla flights move to Manthali Airport in Ramechhap district, east of the capital.

From Ramechhap the flight is only about 20 minutes, but you first drive 3–4 hours from Kathmandu. To catch the first flights, that usually means leaving your hotel in the middle of the night. We arrange the transfer and the departure point is confirmed a few days before you fly, as airlines announce their schedules.

In October and November most flights leave on time. In spring, haze and cloud cause more waiting, and in the monsoon delays of several days are common. The return flight from Lukla to Kathmandu or Ramechhap is affected just as often as the flight in.

If your flight is delayed, we keep you informed, rebook you on the first available flight and adjust the trek if needed. This is why every Everest itinerary we sell has its spare days at the end, after the trek, so a delay going out or coming back never makes you miss your international flight.

Many of our trekkers are. The approach to Lukla is short and dramatic, with the runway appearing on the hillside only in the last minute. The pilots who fly it do so every day of the season and only take off when the weather allows. Sit on the left side going in for views of the high peaks, keep your eyes on the mountains rather than the runway, and remember that waiting for clear weather is the system working as it should.

Helicopters can sometimes fly when planes cannot, because they handle lower cloud. When flights are delayed for days, many trekkers share a helicopter to or from Lukla. It costs more than the plane and still depends on the weather, so it is a backup, not a guarantee. If it is ever needed, we arrange it and agree the cost with you first.

Yes. You can drive to the lower Solukhumbu, around Phaplu and Salleri, and walk up to the Everest trail over several extra days, following the route the first expeditions used. It adds about a week, but you walk through Sherpa and Rai villages that few trekkers see.

If you mainly want a view of Everest without the flight, look at the Pikey Peak trek: a short, drive-in trek with one of the widest Himalayan panoramas in Nepal.