Our Everest Base Camp trek starts with a flight to Lukla, a mountain airstrip at 2,840 m (9,317 ft). It is a short flight in a small plane, and it goes only when the weather allows.
If the weather delays it, two things matter: who pays for the wait, and how much room you left before your flight home.
How the flights work on our trek
You fly to Lukla on day 4, after three days in Kathmandu. On the way back, the last night in the mountains is at Lukla, and the next morning’s flight takes you back to Kathmandu. Both flights and the domestic departure taxes are in the trip price.
The planes are small, so baggage is limited: 15 kg (33 lb) per person, with 10 kg (22 lb) checked and 5 kg (11 lb) as hand baggage. Extra luggage stays at your Kathmandu hotel while you trek, and we arrange it.
Why your flight may leave from Ramechhap
In the busy spring and autumn seasons, many Lukla flights leave from Manthali airport in Ramechhap district instead of Kathmandu. Ramechhap is several hours from Kathmandu by road, so on flight day you leave the hotel very early. The flight from there to Lukla is shorter, and on the way back you fly to Ramechhap and drive to Kathmandu.
When your flight leaves from Ramechhap, the road transfer between Kathmandu and Ramechhap, both ways, is in the trip price. Your written itinerary shows the included transfers.
When weather delays a flight
Lukla flights leave early in the morning, before cloud builds up in the valleys. When cloud or wind closes in, the planes wait on the ground. A delay can happen in any season, on the way in or on the way out. We cannot promise the flight will leave on time.
A delay on the way in means waiting in Kathmandu or Ramechhap for the next flight. A delay on the way out means more time in Lukla, and that one eats into the days before your flight home.
Who pays for the extra nights
If weather delays your Lukla flight and you need to wait, we cover up to 2 extra nights while you wait, and more when the situation calls for it. Nights you choose to add, or a helicopter you choose instead of waiting, are your cost, quoted before anything is booked.
That is the wording in our terms, version SH-TC-2026-10-14, and it applies to bookings made from October 14, 2026. Other delay arrangements and costs are stated in your written itinerary.
Not every company handles delays this way. When we looked at Everest Base Camp trips from ten other companies in October 2026, several left delay costs, or a helicopter, to the traveler.
Book your flight home with room to spare
On our 18-day trek, the morning flight from Lukla brings you back to Kathmandu in time for a last day in Patan and Bhaktapur. The trip ends the next morning. That last day is the only cushion in the plan, and a weather delay in Lukla can use it up.
We suggest booking your flight home one or two days after the trip ends. If you join the March 24, 2027 departure, for example, the trip ends on April 10, so look at flights on April 11 or 12. That buffer does not guarantee a connection.
| Date | On the March 24, 2027 departure |
|---|---|
| April 8 | Day 16. Last night in the mountains, at Lukla. |
| April 9 | Day 17. Morning flight to Kathmandu, then Patan and Bhaktapur. |
| April 10 | Day 18. The trip ends. |
| April 11 or 12 | Book your flight home on one of these days. |
If the Lukla flight runs on time, you get a spare day or two in the Kathmandu Valley. Those are nights you chose to add, so they are your cost, and we can book them for you at a price we quote first.
Your travel insurance must cover trip cancellation and interruption. Before you buy it, ask the insurer how the policy handles weather delays and missed connections.
Is the Lukla flight safe?
We would rather you hear this from us. Every airline certified in Nepal, including the ones that fly to Lukla, is on the European Union’s Air Safety List, which bars them from flying into the EU. The European Commission last updated the list on June 9, 2026, and Nepal’s airlines stayed on it. It is a judgment on Nepal’s aviation oversight as a whole, not on any one route, and it does not stop anyone flying inside Nepal.
The weather rule that causes the delays is there for safety: the planes fly only when conditions allow.
Talk with Sam or Gyalgin
Our family has worked in these mountains for about 70 years. Today Sam and his father, Gyalgin Sherpa, plan every trip themselves.
If you want help choosing a date for your flight home, or want to know how the Lukla flights tend to run in your season, send us a note or call +1 (855) 743-7725. We reply within one business day.
To keep this guide with you, download it as a printable PDF (1.2 MB). It has a map of the flights and a sample timeline for picking the date of your flight home.
Sources and date checked
Checked October 14, 2026: section 7 of our terms, version SH-TC-2026-10-14; the itinerary on our Everest Base Camp trek page; the European Commission’s air safety list update of June 9, 2026; and Kantipur’s report of August 18, 2026 on Nepal’s effort to leave the list.
