![Syangboche airstrip(3780m) and grazing horses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Syangboche_airstrip%283780m%29_and_grazing_horses.jpg)
Syangboche Airport is a
domestic airport located in
Namche Bazaar
Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; ne, नाम्चे बजार) is a town (formally Namche Village Development Committee) in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 o ...
serving
Solukhumbu District
Solukhumbu District ( ne, सोलुखुम्बु जिल्ला , Sherpa: , Wylie: shar khum bu dzong) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. As the name suggests, it consists of the subregions Solu and Khumbu. ...
, a district in
Province No. 1
Province No. 1 (proposed names: Kirat Autonomous State, Kirat, Limbuwan, Khambuwan Rashtriya Morcha, Nepal, Khambuwan, Mount Everest, Sagarmatha, Virata, Birat and Koshi River, Koshi) is the easternmost of the seven Provinces of Nepal, province ...
in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
.
The airstrip is the closest airstrip to
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
and
Everest Base Camp
There are two base camps on Mount Everest, on opposite sides of the mountains: South Base Camp is in Nepal at an altitude of (), while North Base Camp is in Tibet, China at ().
The base camps are rudimentary campsites at the base of Mount Eve ...
. However, it is not often used by those going to either as this is generally not viewed as consistent with safe, reasonably paced elevation acclimatization. Rather, typical users of this airstrip are tourists who plan on visiting a nearby hotel and going no higher or those who plan only on going to
Namche Bazaar
Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; ne, नाम्चे बजार) is a town (formally Namche Village Development Committee) in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 o ...
.
History
The airport was constructed in 1971 by a team led by
Takashi Miyahara and was opened with a test flight by
Royal Nepal Airlines
Nepal Airlines Corporation ( ne, नेपाल वायुसेवा निगम, Nepāl Vāyusevā Nigam, Nepal Air Service Corporation), formerly known as Royal Nepal Airlines ( ne, शाही नेपाल वायुसेवा, ...
on June 1, 1973. It was built to serve , at the time the highest-placed hotel in the world.
In the early 2000s, there was a controversy surrounding the expansion of the airport for tourists to skip the trek from
Lukla
Lukla ( ne, लुक्ला ) is a small town in the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at , it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Eve ...
to
Namche Bazaar
Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; ne, नाम्चे बजार) is a town (formally Namche Village Development Committee) in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 o ...
with Lukla entrepreneurs fearing loss of business. However, the plans for expansion never materialized.
Facilities
The airport is at an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of above
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
. It has one
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
which is in length.
The airstrip is not licensed for commercial operations and has few facilities. There are no scheduled services and most aircraft landing and departing at Syangboche are helicopters and
STOL aircraft
A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh condition ...
making
chartered flights
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...
from
Kathmandu
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or
Lukla
Lukla ( ne, लुक्ला ) is a small town in the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at , it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Eve ...
. The flight from Lukla to Syangboche takes between 7 and 11 minutes by helicopter. Lukla was previously the furthest point served by scheduled flights on the way to Mount Everest.
Helicopters do fly further, and higher, up to Everest Base Camp, but only for picking up exhausted or injured mountaineers or dropping critical supplies. Without altitude acclimatization, Syangboche is the highest point it is advisable to reach by aircraft. It is not uncommon for people visiting Syangboche to be out of breath, due to the high altitude.
Airlines and destinations
Currently, there are no scheduled services to and from Syangboche Airport. Previously
Nepal Airlines
Nepal Airlines Corporation ( ne, नेपाल वायुसेवा निगम, Nepāl Vāyusevā Nigam, Nepal Air Service Corporation), formerly known as Royal Nepal Airlines ( ne, शाही नेपाल वायुसेवा, ...
and
Tara Air
Tara Air Pvt. Ltd. is an airline headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is a subsidiary of Yeti Airlines. Tara Air was formed in 2009 using aircraft from the Yeti Airlines fleet and is based at Tribhuvan International Airport, with a secondary h ...
operated routes to
Kathmandu
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, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
.
References
{{authority control
Airports in Nepal
1971 establishments in Nepal