Nepal has the best mountains and views in the world- no doubt. The Swiss Alps are more famous, but the scale is barely comparable. While the landscape is not lawn-like, the ruggedness gives its own natural beauty to the country. Everest mountain flight is an alternate way to see the beautiful Himalayas without hiking
Hikers all over the world come to Nepal to build credentials by climbing 8k+ meter peaks for eventual climb to Mt. Everest. There are thousands of treks possible in Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and mountains around Everest
Everest mountain flight is a wonderful opportunity for non-hikers to get a glimpse of the Himalayan mountains up close, including Mt. Everest, the tallest peak in the world
Why we were apprehensive to begin with
I saw many videos and read many blogs to assess if this would be actually different from the flight views in Leh, Almaty, Austria. The pictures were not conclusive. The views seemed distant and Everest not so distinct, plus far away
In addition, flight safety records are not the best. Every operator has had at least one crash in the past
To make things worse, fuel price hike happened due to Iran war by 50%. This would have been our largest outlay in Nepal in terms of cost, despite discounted price for Indians ($125 per person). All airlines are priced similarly
We were also skeptical about potential flight delays would eat up sightseeing time in Kathmandu. The flights are known to wait for good weather, and sometimes getting cancelled after long wait
Our driver was also not the best. There was no chance of him waking up at 4:30 AM to drop us to the airport. We had to find our own transport
Few considerations which tilted the decision
- Strong recommendations from friends/ relatives. It is once in a lifetime experience
- We had seen many other mountains, but not the Everest so close. We had a glimpse of it from Delhi-Bagdogra flight from a very far distance
- Price point for Indians- You can consider it as one additional domestic flight
- If things went smoothly, we would be back by 8 AM, in time for breakfast and sight seeing
- Easy taxi booking through hotels
Our experience with Everest mountain flight
There are many operators like Buddha, Sree Airlines, with Buddha Air touted as the safest and largest operator in Nepal. Buddha Air runs 4-5 flights at 6:30 AM every day.
Kathmandu domestic airport opens only post 5 AM. Seats are assigned upon checkin. We lined up quickly to grab front seats that avoid wing views
The right side was said to get closer and longer views, but in the second half. We got 2 assigned 2 in the left, one in the right even before I requested. My plan was to ask for 1 left and 2 right. We were ok with the outcome
The left side gets views for first 30 minutes, ending in Mt. Everest and Makalu. The plane then returns and people on the right side get views till landing. Only window seats are assigned, so everyone gets to see clearly
Airport food prices were quite reasonable. INR 150 ($1.5) for tea and INR 250 ($2.5) for snacks like samosa/ kachori which had 2 pieces in a plate at the outlet run by Soaltee, a prominent hospitality chain in Nepal
The flight was on time. We were taken by bus to the boarding point. The air hostess gave us a map of the mountains to make spotting them easier
10 minutes into the flight, the first views started appearing with Langtang range. We could clearly see many other mountains like Phurbi Ghyachu, Choba Bambare, Cho Oyu, Sheesha Pangma, Gauri Shankar (a standout), Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, ending at Makalu
The flights fly beside the mountain, not over them. The view is potentially the closest one could get. We shifted seats into aisle on the other side during return
The verdict on Everest mountain flight
Everest scenic flight is absolutely worth it! Don’t think twice before going on one. I am not a social media influencer, and I have no monetization or hidden interest in getting clicks. Rather a pretty apprehensive and cost-conscious person