Fly to Lukla (2,804 m) from Kathmandu (35 minutes) or Drive to Manthali (4 to 6 hours) and Take 20-mins Flight to Lukla, and then Paiya/Chutok (2,800 m) – 4 to 5 hours
For Manthali – Lukla flight: Wake up around 2:30 am, drive to Manthali by shared tourist vehicle for about 4 to 6 hours, and fly to Lukla (20 minutes); Applicable for the peak trekking month of March, April, May, October and November.
For Kathmandu – Lukla flight: Wake up around 5 to 6 am and drive to the domestic airport in Kathmandu for about 30 minutes and fly to Lukla (35 minutes). Applicable for the remaining months, except peak trekking months.
Helicopter Option: Instead of a regular plane flight, you have an option to take a shared helicopter flight (it’s not private chartered, so the cost is divided among the passengers) between Kathmandu and Lukla at USD 500 per person extra for one way in addition to the trip price. This cost is available only for those who do advance booking of the helicopter flight at least one week before the trip starts. The helicopter can take 5 passengers at once and the flights are scheduled from 6 AM to 1 PM. From the Kathmandu airport, you will reach Lukla within 40 to 60 minutes depending upon the weather. This is a great option as you won’t have to worry about the Kathmandu to Manthali drive which starts around 2:30 AM. Plus the helicopters can fly in visibility as low as 1,500 meters when the weather isn’t favorable for the planes which need the visibility of 5,000 or more meters to fly.
Flight to Tenzing-Hillary Airport usually takes place early in the morning. We suggest you to make all the sorting and packing the day before, so there is no rush on Day 3. Once we reach Lukla, we will take a rest for a while. We will meet our porters. They will make their load with your duffel bags and other things. We assign one porter to every two clients. We will then walk towards the south, away from the Everest trail. We will pass through farmlands, a forest, go down and up the mountain, cross a couple of streams and finally reach Paiya after 4 to 5 hours of walking from Lukla.
Read: For peak trekking months (March, April, May, October and November), the current Lukla flight operation to and from Manthali airport that was started from the trekking season of March 2019, will continue for the upcoming years. This means you need to wake up early, around 2:30 am to reach Manthali and catch your early morning Lukla flight. In such cases, the hotel you are staying will provide the packed breakfast. Otherwise, except peak season, you can fly to Lukla directly from Kathmandu airport. Overnight at a guesthouse. Breakfast, lunch and dinner included.