Nepal Plans to Attract More Indian Tourists to Everest by Helicopter

According to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), over 209,105 visitors from India entered Nepal between January to December 2022. This was out of a total of 614,148 foreign visitors entering the country.

Nepal: A Familiar Destination

For generations, pilgrims, trade, and business people from India have been making their way to Nepal, but it is only recently that the average traveller has started looking towards Nepal as not just a place for pilgrimages or work but for adventure and exploration.

From the first Indian to successfully climb Mount Everest, namely Avtar Singh Cheema in 1965, to the recent Bollywood film, Uunchai, starring Amitabh Bachchan, among others, which depicts his character's trek to Everest Base Camp, there has been great interest in this mountain and the surrounding region.

2022 Attempts to Summit Everest

Even during the COVID-19 crisis, Everest continued to draw trekkers and climbers from all over the world.

This was in addition to the hundreds of people who still made their way to Everest Base Camp via the EBC Trek.

It takes months of preparation to attempt to summit Everest and around two months on the mountain itself acclimatizing at the different Camps and involves considerable funds in both climbing fees and climbing equipment and staff. This is not something the majority of people can achieve.

What does attract thousands of people each year is trekking within the Everest Region, particularly to base camp. This less expensive and less physically demanding trip takes around two weeks. While people from all walks of life and ages successfully make this trek, there is still an element of physical demands. Trekkers must be of good general fitness and mentally prepared to hike for several hours per day in often cold and sometimes very harsh conditions.

For those unable to consider climbing this iconic mountain, and for those who even trekking for 14 days at a high altitude seems a daunting task, there is another way to visit the mountain.

Helicopter Tours to Mount Everest

Recently the Nepal tourism fraternity has opened a 4 hours Everest Base Camp helicopter ride that anyone of any age can enjoy. We have it on good authority that in 2022, an Indian gentleman, aged 87, and his wife, undertook a lifelong dream to visit Everest by utilizing this helicopter tour. Taking a helicopter removes the physical hardship and fear of altitude illness, leaving only the thrill of the flight and the beauty of the mountains.

These tours are organized out of Kathmandu and take approximately five hours. Starting early in the morning, it takes around 45 minutes from Kathmandu to the airport town of Lukla in the Khumbu Region. Refueling occurs here before the helicopter takes its passengers to Everest Base Camp and beyond. Since the flight is at a high altitude, the helicopters only take five passengers, and it is possible to either charter the whole helicopter or reserve it on a per-seat basis.

As it is not possible to land at Everest Base Camp itself due to the layout and condition of the ground, the helicopter takes passengers to nearby Kalapattar. Landing on this high ridge that sits opposite Everest, time is spent gazing at Everest and the surrounding mountains. The time spent here is relatively short of ensuring passenger safety, but the memories and photographs will last longer and thrill those back home.

The tour does not just fly over the landscape of glaciers, rivers, and snowy and rocky trails while surrounded by the Himalayas. The tour also takes passengers to a well-placed hotel. Sitting on a terrace overlooking Mt Everest, breakfast is served before the tour returns to Kathmandu.

Climb, Trek or Fly

With these three options, a trip to Nepal can be enriched by a tour to Mount Everest, which can be undertaken by the fittest and most adventurous, the young and young at heart with good hiking stamina, or anyone, including grandmothers and grandchildren or those with limited time.