Plane or heli
Nine of the twelve listings on this page are fixed-wing mountain flights and three are helicopters, and the helicopters cost five to ten times as much. The difference is not the view of Everest — both see it. It is that a helicopter can land in the Khumbu at over 5,000 metres, and a plane cannot land anywhere between Kathmandu and the mountain.
Quick answer
A plane costs from $100, flies at about 25,000 feet, carries thirty to seventy people and never lands; a helicopter costs from $1,100, flies low up the valleys, carries five and lands in the Khumbu. Both pass Everest. Only one puts you on the ground at Base Camp or Kalapatthar. If you want the range at eye level, take the plane. If you want to stand in it, take the helicopter.
What a plane does better
Eye level, a tenth of the price, and a window each.
Height. A mountain flight cruises at about 25,000 feet, which puts you roughly at the height of the summits rather than under them. You see the range as a range: seven named peaks in a line with the Tibetan plateau behind.
Price. A tenth of the cheapest landing helicopter. The whole of this niche exists because an Everest flight tour by plane is genuinely affordable.
Evidence. The plane listings on this page carry hundreds of reviews between them; the helicopters carry tens.
Everybody gets a window. Mountain-flight aircraft are configured one seat each side of the aisle. Helicopters seat five and the middle seats are middle seats.
What a helicopter does better
Twenty minutes on the ground where the trek ends.
It lands. That is the whole of it. Everest Base Camp at 5,364 metres, or Kalapatthar at 5,545, which is the viewpoint every trekker climbs on the last morning. Twenty minutes on that ground is what the money buys.
It flies up the valleys. Low, slow, between walls, over Namche Bazaar and Tengboche. A plane at 25,000 feet sees the valley as a crease; a helicopter is in it.
Five people. Which changes the whole feel of the morning.
Breakfast at Hotel Everest View. On $1,728, on the way back, at 3,880 metres. A small thing, and it comes up in every review of that listing.
Book direct
The cheapest plane, our top pick, the best landing and the Lukla transfer.
★ 4.6 · 268 reviews
★ 4.8 · 101 reviews
★ 4.9 · 30 reviews
Five things people get wrong about the choice
These come up in the reviews on both sides.
It sees it from lower down. The plane is closer to eye level with the summit.
It does not. Every one-hour Everest flight tour turns at the mountain and comes home.
Book it for the landing. If you only want the view, the plane is a tenth of the price.
A helicopter landing puts you at altitude in under an hour with no acclimatisation. Most people are fine; some are not, and it is worth thinking about.
The plane listings carry hundreds of reviews and the helicopter ones tens. That is a difference in evidence, not necessarily in quality.
In short
Plane for the range, helicopter to stand in it.
Plane. From $100. Eye level with the summits, everybody gets a window, and it is the right first Everest flight tour for almost everybody.
Helicopter. From $1,100. Low up the valleys, five seats, and it lands in the Khumbu at over 5,000 metres.
Neither sees more of Everest. They see it from different heights. What you are really choosing is whether an Everest flight tour ends with your feet on that ground.
Common questions
Not for seeing it. The plane flies higher and closer to eye level. The helicopter can land.
Five to ten times: from $1,100 against $100.
No. No fixed-wing Everest flight tour lands between Kathmandu and the mountain.
About 25,000 feet, which is roughly eye level with the summits along the route.
You are at over 5,000 metres for about twenty minutes with no acclimatisation. Most people are fine; if you have a heart or lung condition, ask a doctor.
The plane for the whole range in one frame; the helicopter for scale and for the ground.
Which to book, in five lines
If you recognise your case here, the decision is made.
The cheapest Everest flight tour by plane is $100 with 268 reviews.
At 25,000 feet you are level with the summits. A helicopter is thousands of metres below them.
From $1,100, and it is the only way without a fortnight of walking.
$542, and it is a transfer rather than an Everest flight tour.
It costs a tenth as much, and every Everest flight tour by plane on this page flies the same route past the same peaks.
In short
Plane for the range, helicopter to stand in it.
Plane. From $100. About 25,000 feet, eye level with the summits, every seat a window seat. The right first Everest flight tour for almost everybody.
Helicopter. From $1,100. Low up the valleys, five seats, and it lands in the Khumbu at over 5,000 metres.
Neither sees more of Everest. What you are choosing on an Everest flight tour is the height you see it from, and whether the morning ends with your feet on that ground.
What it is actually like in each one
A quiet row of seats, or five people and a lot of noise.
In the turboprop you sit in a single row on each side of the aisle, the engines are a steady drone, and the aircraft is stable in the smooth morning air. The windows are small and double-glazed, and most of the cabin is standing up by the halfway point.
In the helicopter there are five of you, the noise is physical, and the aircraft moves in every axis as it works up the valleys. You see downwards, which the plane does not allow, and the ground is a few hundred metres away rather than several thousand.
Neither is frightening and both are loud. If you have flown in neither, the plane is the gentler introduction and a tenth of the price.
Go deeper
From $100 for an hour, and what the helicopter landings add.
The verdictTwelve listings, and the four worth your money.
Fly or trekOne hour against twelve days to the same mountain.
LandingsBase Camp, Kalapatthar and what standing there is like.
BookingDeparture times, transfers and what sells out.
When to goOctober, November, March and April — and why.
Kathmandu: 1-Hour Mount Everest Flight with Private Transfer
★ 4.8 · 101 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h