Lukla Airport Takeoff and Landing

Tweet
Views: 9324

Video By: NepalTV Location: Everest Region

More About Lukla Airport Takeoff and Landing

Video Transcript

Lukla Airport, Now officially named Tenzing-Hillary Airport after Tenzig Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary, is the point where most people begin their treks in the Everest region.

Activity at the airport begins early, breaking the morning silence in the mountain valleys. The first flights begin arriving from Kathmandu as early as 7 in the morning. Departures and arrivals are highly dependent on weather. Cloudy and windy days can result in airport closures and flight delays.

Lukla is famous for its Runway. Taking off and landing can be quite an experience.

The airport is 2860 meters above sea level and the runway is notoriously short.

From inside landing looks something like this. The plane descends steeply towards the runway.

And then touches down. The runway is so short the plane has to pull up quickly and reaches the end of the tarmac in under 10 seconds.

Flight turn around time at the airport is quick and its not long before the planes are ready to return to Kathmandu with another load of travelers.

At take off the plane speeds down the runway which is on an incredible 12% incline to give the craft enough speed to take off on the short 527m stretch of tarmac. It is called a fully committed take off, because once the pilot has begun, stopping is not an option, especially when the end of the runway is a mountain cliff drop off.

Its a huge relief when you feel the plane leave the runway and get airborne.

The amazing views on the journey are an added bonus. You get great views of the Himalayan mountains as you travel between Lukla and Kathmandu.

Sometimes the mountains below seem a little too close for comfort.

The journey between Lukla and Kathmandu is only short and you arrive back in Kathmandu in 30 - 45 minutes, ready to continue the rest of your adventures in Nepal.