Tenzing–Hillary Airport also known as Lukla Airport is a hub for Lukla Flight. It is a small airport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu, Solukhumbu District, Province No. 1, eastern Nepal. Further, a program titled Most Extreme Airports (History Channel in 2010) rated the airport as the most dangerous airport in the world for over 20 years. Thus, Lukla Flight has always been risky.
Also, the airport is popular because Lukla is the place where most people start the climb to Mount Everest Base Camp. There are daily Lukla Flight between Lukla and Kathmandu during daylight hours in good weather. Although the flying distance is short, rain commonly occurs in Lukla while the sun is shining brightly in Kathmandu.
As a result, high winds, cloud cover, and changing visibility often mean flights can be delayed or the airport closed. Moreover, the airport is contained within a chain-link fence and patrolled by the Nepali armed police or civil police around the clock.
Due to runway setting and maintenance in Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Kathmandu, all airplane Lukla Flight in Everest Region is being diverted from Kathmandu Airport to Manthali Airport, Ramechhap. Changes can be seen from April 1, 2019, to July 30, 2019.
A formal statement source to this change has already been regulated by the airlines regarding the Lukla Flight. You can get the date and tentative time of the flight unchanged as per the airplane tickets issued. However, this will add some burden on you to travel to Ramechhap via Kathmandu to go to Lukla and reroute the same way on your way back to Kathmandu. This may add some additional headaches for trekkers to get on to Lukla Flight and get to the Everest Region.
Manthali Airport is the key terminal for airplane landing located in the Tamakoshi River Valley in Manthali. It is the capital of Ramechhap District which is at a height of 474 m. It is pointed at 132 km east of Kathmandu and it will take 4 and a half hour to get there via Kathmandu by road.
Being a small town it does not get to see that much tourists normally. Hence, accommodation facilities for tourist and guests are limited and the service level is not very high. With recent changes in flight, this town is surely going to be busy but extreme chance not to find proper accommodation in Manthali during this peak season of April- May.
Directly booking a flight via Airlines website or Travel agencies, you need to coordinate with the respective parties. In each case, they will sort out transportation to Manthali Airport. On the contrary, if you have to arrange the vehicle and hotels or any accommodation all by yourself, here is what you can do:
(1) Get a cab to Koteshwor
(2) Catch a local bus or regular jeep from to Manthali. Vehicles departing time is usually from 6:30 am to 1 pm. This option will require you to stay overnight in Manthali. As more options arise, check out our blog and be updated.
For people getting a flight booking with with Nepal Lion Tours & treks, here is something that we can manage better.
(1) Transport you directly to Manthali in a private vehicle 5-6 hours ahead as per your flight time so there will be a lot of time to prepare for the flight without having to stay overnight. This will remove the hectic work of finding a place to stay. For instance, if your flight time is 6:30 am, we will depart Kathmandu around 1 am.
(2) Nepal Lion T0urs & Treks does it better to allocate staffs and arrange tent accommodation in the area as a backup. In case your flight gets canceled due to any reason, you can use our tent facility (with mattress) for free. On your request, we can manage a sleeping bag but we recommend you to have your own.
(3) We will provide you with the contact details of the local staff in the field whom you can communicate for any issue.
(1) The land transportation from Kathmandu to Manthali and Manthali to Kathmandu.
(2) Flight from Manthali Airport to Lukla.
(3) Emergency tented Accommodation if needed.
If you are planning your Everest Region Trekking with Nepal Lion Tours & Treks you should not be reading this blog just let us do the hassle free work- “haha kidding”. Just share this info with your friends and families about changing Lukla Flight Routes who are panning Everest Trekking this season, we will be booking your flights and sorting out everything they want us to do included with all the above-mentioned services.
Even if you haven’t booked a trip to Everest region BOOK NOW. We would love to help as best as we can. We will be wishing inquiries from you at www.nepalliontrekking.com or an e-mail on info@nepalliontrekking.com