© Vyacheslav Argenberg / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0Everest Region Medical Evacuation
Emergency evacuation from the Khumbu to a Kathmandu hospital. Operators usually fly on medical need; most ask for your insurer's assistance number or a payment guarantee, so call your insurer's assistance line as soon as you can.
- Duration
- 1h 10m
- Max altitude
- 18,000 ft / 5,486 m
- Dispatched
- By phone, 24 hours
- Party
- Up to 5 people
About the Everest Region Medical Evacuation
- Distance
- 135 km
- At Lukla
- 9,334 ft / 2,845 m
- At Kathmandu
- 4,390 ft / 1,338 m
- On the ground
- 15m
Highlights
- On-call crews
- Direct to hospital helipad in Kathmandu
- Longline capability for high-altitude retrieval
Everest Region Medical Evacuation: questions people ask
How much does a helicopter rescue from the Everest region cost?
Roughly US$3,000 to US$8,000, and more where a longline and a specialist crew are needed. Operators usually fly on the medical need, but most ask for your insurer's assistance number or a guarantee of payment, and bill the insurer afterwards. If the insurer declines, the bill is yours. Nothing on this page is a booking: a rescue is arranged by phone.
How do I call a helicopter rescue?
Call +977 98 6104 4994, day or night. Do not use an enquiry form. If you have data but no voice signal, send a request from the SOS page instead. The national lines are Nepal Tourist Police 1144, Police 100 and Ambulance 102.
How quickly can a helicopter get there?
Once a crew accepts, the flying from Kathmandu is about 45 minutes to Lukla and about an hour to the upper Khumbu. The wait is usually daylight, cloud and wind rather than the flight itself, and a request made in the afternoon or after dark often waits for the next flyable window. A rescue flight is never guaranteed.
What should I tell my insurer?
Call the assistance number on your policy as soon as you can, with the casualty's location, condition and the operator's name once you have it. Many policies exclude trekking above 4,000 m or cap evacuation below the real cost, so check yours before you go. The operator's liability insurance is separate from your own travel insurance and does not pay for your evacuation.
More on Kathmandu: charter, landing sites and reading
- Charter the whole helicopter to KathmanduYour own timing and your own party: what the leg runs to on the hour meter.
- Lukla Tenzing-HillaryAerodrome at 9,334 ft / 2,845 m: codes, height and every route through it.
- Kathmandu Tribhuvan InternationalAerodrome at 4,390 ft / 1,338 m: codes, height and every route through it.
- Industry · 25 September 2026The helicopters used in Nepal, type by typeSeven helicopter types do effectively all of Nepal's civil flying. What separates them is the hover figure, not the service ceiling on the brochure.
- Practical · 19 October 2026Helicopter Transfers and Point-to-Point RoutesA transfer is the whole aircraft flown as a journey rather than a circuit. Where they go in Nepal, and why the empty return leg sets the timing.
- Industry · 16 October 2026Helicopter Companies in Nepal: the Four KindsFour kinds of company stand between you and a helicopter in Nepal, and only one holds the certificate. How to tell which one you are buying from.
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