Syangboche Airport

Syangboche Airport (IATA: SYH, ICAO: VNSB) is a domestic airport located in Namche Bazaar[1] serving Solukhumbu District, a district in Province No. 1 in Nepal.[1][3] The airstrip is the closest airstrip to Mount Everest and Everest Base Camp. 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.

Syangboche Airport

स्याङबोचे विमानस्थल
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of Nepal
OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of Nepal
ServesNamche Bazaar, Solukhumbu, Nepal
Elevation AMSL12,402 ft / 3,780 m
Coordinates27°48′40.4″N 086°42′44.2″E
Map
Syangboche Airport
Location of airport in Nepal
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13/31 405 1,329 unpaved
Sources: [1][2]
Syangboche airstrip

History

The airport was constructed in 1971 by a team lead by Takashi Miyahara and was opened with a test flight by Royal Nepal Airlines on June 1, 1973.[4] It was built to serve Hotel Everest View (jp), the then highest placed hotel in the world.[5]

In the early 2000s, there was a controversy surrounding the expansion of the airport for tourists to skip the trek from Lukla to Namche Bazaar with Lukla entrepreneurs fearing loss of business. However, the plans for expansion never materialized.[6]

Facilities

The airport is at an elevation of 12,297 feet (3,748 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway which is 405 metres (1,329 ft) in length.[1]

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 making chartered flights from Kathmandu or Lukla. 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 and Tara Air operated routes to Kathmandu.[7]

References
  1. Airport information for Syangboche, Nepal (VNSB / SYH) at Great Circle Mapper.
  2. "Syangboche Airport" (PDF). Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. World-airport-codes.com Syangboche Airport accessed December 27, 2011
  4. Miyahara, Takashi (1982). ヒマラヤの灯―ホテル・エベレスト・ビューを建てる (in Japanese). ISBN 978-4163376806.
  5. Khatri, Shirish (November 2016). "The Himalayan Inspiration". ECS Nepal. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  6. Limbu, Ramyata (31 May 2002). "Air war over Lukla". Nepali Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011.
  7. "Syangboche Airport deprived of Flight Operation from Past decade". Aviation Nepal. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2020.


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