Tourists increased in air service to Lukla

The number of tourists using air services at Tenzing Hillary Airport in Lukla, a tourist spot in Solukhumbu, has increased by 23 percent. Compared to the year 2022, the number of people using air services in Lukla increased by 23.84 percent in 2023, according to the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority Lukla branch.

According to Umesh Panthi, Lukla chief of the authority, in 2022, 1,150,151 tourists used air services, while in 2023, 1,33,274 tourists reached the airport. Numerically, 31 thousand seven hundred and 73 is more. He said that most of the people who take air services are foreign tourists.

Authority chief Panthi said that the number of foreigners visiting Khumbu increased during the off-season of 2023. Lukla Airport, known as the Everest Region airport, has a high number of people taking air services. Amrit Magar, station in-charge of Tara Airlines Lukla, said that most of the foreign tourists who visit Khumbu reach Lukla by plane from Kathmandu or Manthali in Ramechhap and walk uphill from there.

According to him, most tourists visiting Khumbu have to take air service as there is no road to Lukla. He said that only a few tourists travel by car to the headquarters via Salleri, Thamdanda, and then walk to Lukla. Among the eight local levels of the district, although the road has not reached the center of Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality, the road has reached the center of other local levels.

More than 928 tons of cargo has been transported to Lukla in Solukhumbu. The branch said that in the year 2023, 928,984 kilograms or 928.98 tons of cargo was transported at the airport located in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality-2.

According to Umesh Panthi, the head of the office, the transported materials include food, construction materials, clothes, etc. Since the road does not reach Lukla, the air service has become a reliable means of transporting materials in that area, said Mingachiri Sherpa, chairman of the rural municipality. The branch said that the materials were transported by plane and helicopter.