From Kathmandu
All twelve listings on this page leave from the domestic side of Tribhuvan airport in Kathmandu, and nearly all of them leave before eight in the morning. The city itself is the reason the product exists: it sits in a bowl at about 1,400 metres with hills on every side, and Everest is 160 km away behind another range entirely.
Quick answer
Every Everest flight tour on this page leaves from the domestic terminal at Tribhuvan, from about 06:30. Most listings include a hotel pickup, which at that hour is worth having. The airport is about six kilometres from Thamel, which is twenty minutes at five in the morning and an hour at nine. Check-in is roughly forty minutes before departure.
Every trip, current fare
All twelve listings. The cost-per-hour column shows how differently a one-hour mountain flight and a six-hour helicopter day are built.
| Flight | Length | Price | How | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathmandu: 1-Hour Mount Everest Flight with Private TransferOne hour, private transfer both ways | 1 h | $185 | By plane | $185.00 | 4.8 · 101 |
| Kathmandu: Mount Everest Scenic Tour by Plane with TransfersThe cheapest way to see Everest, with transfers | 2 h | $100 | By plane | $50.00 | 4.6 · 268 |
| Kathmandu: Everest Flight or Everest Helicopter Landing TourPlane or helicopter landing — you choose at booking | 2.5–4 h | $100 | With a landing | $33.33 | 4.8 · 20 |
| Kathmandu: 1-Hour Scenic Flight Over Mount EverestOne hour over Everest, Lhotse and Makalu | 1 h | $160 | By plane | $160.00 | 4.8 · 74 |
| Kathmandu: Mount Everest Scenic Flight with Airport TransferA window seat guaranteed, airport transfer included | 1 h | $180 | By plane | $180.00 | 5 · 7 |
| From Kathmandu: 1-Hour Panoramic Everest FlightEye-level with the highest peaks, 202 reviews | 1 h | $340 | By plane | $340.00 | 4.5 · 202 |
| Kathmandu: Mt Everest Scenic Flight by plane (window seat)Three hours door to door, window seat stated | 3 h | $410 | By plane | $136.67 | 5 · 7 |
| From Kathmandu: Helicopter Flight to LuklaHelicopter to Lukla, the gateway to the Khumbu | 1 h | $542 | By helicopter | $542.00 | New |
| 1 Day Pokhara Tour from Kathmandu by flightA whole day, and a different range | 1 day | $610 | By plane | $61.00 | 5 · 1 |
| Helicopter Landing at Everest Base Camp, KalapatherLands at Base Camp and Kalapatthar | 6 h | $1,100 | With a landing | $183.33 | 5 · 1 |
| Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour with Kalapatthar Landing.Lands at Kalapatthar, with breakfast at Hotel Everest View | 4h 30m | $1,728 | With a landing | $384.00 | 4.9 · 30 |
| Kathmandu: Mt. Everest Scenic Helicopter Flight with PhotosA sunrise helicopter flight over Base Camp | 4 h | $2,033 | By helicopter | $508.25 | New |
Why the city cannot see the mountain
Everest is 160 km away with a range in front of it.
The Kathmandu valley is a former lake bed ringed by hills that rise to around 2,700 metres. From the city floor you can see those hills and, on a clear winter morning, the Langtang range beyond them. You cannot see Everest, because Everest is 160 km to the east behind the Mahalangur range, and there is a great deal of mountain in the way.
Visitors arrive expecting a skyline. Hotel roof terraces advertise mountain views and deliver Langtang at best. This is the single most common disappointment in Kathmandu, and it is why an Everest flight tour is not a luxury here but the only option inside a short trip.
The other option is thirteen days of walking, and we have a page about that too.
Book direct
Our top pick, the cheapest, the guaranteed window and the most reviewed operator.
★ 4.8 · 101 reviews
★ 4.6 · 268 reviews
★ 5 · 7 reviews
★ 4.5 · 202 reviews
Practical notes for a Kathmandu departure
None of these is on the listing in so many words.
Small, busy and separate from international. Your transfer driver knows; a taxi driver may need telling.
Around five in the morning for a half-past-six rotation. Ask your hotel for a packed breakfast the night before.
Allow the forty minutes; it is not the queue that takes the time.
Rotations slip as the crew waits for light. A departure half an hour late is routine.
Handed out at boarding on most operators, and it is the running order of the flight.
Several operators hand out a signed certificate at the door. It is charming and it is free.
In short
Tribhuvan, before dawn, with the transfer included.
Every Everest flight tour leaves from the domestic terminal at Tribhuvan, from about half past six in the morning.
The reason the product exists is that Kathmandu cannot see the mountain: the city is in a bowl at 1,400 metres and Everest is 160 km away behind another range.
Take a listing with the transfer included unless your hotel runs a car at five in the morning. $100 includes one; so does our top pick at $185.
Common questions
The domestic terminal at Tribhuvan airport, on every listing on this page.
No. The city sits in a bowl at about 1,400 metres and Everest is 160 km away behind the Mahalangur range.
About six kilometres — twenty minutes before dawn, an hour in daytime traffic.
On most listings. At a five-in-the-morning collection it is worth having.
About forty minutes before departure, at the domestic terminal.
Slippage of half an hour is routine as crews wait for light. It is not a sign of a problem.
What else the morning gives you
An Everest flight tour hands you back most of a day, and the city rewards it.
Which in Kathmandu means the whole of Durbar Square and Swayambhunath before the heat and the traffic.
For the flight and for the city afterwards. By midday the valley haze has thickened.
Six kilometres from Thamel to the airport is twenty minutes at five in the morning and an hour at nine.
Which is why an Everest flight tour fits into a week without displacing anything.
In short
Tribhuvan, before dawn, transfer included.
Every Everest flight tour leaves from the domestic terminal at Tribhuvan, from about half past six in the morning.
The product exists because the city cannot see the mountain: Kathmandu is in a bowl at 1,400 metres and Everest is 160 km away behind another range.
Take an Everest flight tour with the transfer included unless your hotel runs a car at that hour — $100 includes one, and our top pick at $185 sends a private car.
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.
Plane or heliWhat each one can do that the other cannot.
LandingsBase Camp, Kalapatthar and what standing there is like.
BookingDeparture times, transfers and what sells out.
Kathmandu: 1-Hour Mount Everest Flight with Private Transfer
★ 4.8 · 101 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h