Helicopter in the Khumbu region near Pangboche
There has been movement in the dispute over the large number of helicopter flights in the region around Mount Everest. Following a crisis meeting between the conflicting parties at the headquarters of the Solukhumbu district administration at the end of last week, the airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) announced that it would resume helicopter rescue flights in the Khumbu region.
At the beginning of January, the AOAN had suspended all helicopter flights to the Everest region. The association was responding to protests by local organizations that had erected poles with prayer flags at helicopter landing sites in the Khumbu. The locals wanted to support the move by the Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality. The regional administration had banned commercial helicopter flights in the Sagarmatha National Park from 1 January and only allowed rescue flights by appointment.
Appeal to mountaineers and trekking tourists
A few days ago, the Namche Youth Group had already made it clear on Facebook that the landing sites “have never been closed or barred for rescue operations or emergency purposes. They have always remained open for such essential services..” The protests were only directed against “unnecessary commercial flights”, it said.
Helicopter takes off from Namche Bazaar
The group appealed to mountaineers and trekking tourists to refrain from such unnecessary helicopter flights in the coming spring season: “Your cooperation will help reduce noise pollution, respect the wishes of the local community and preserve the natural harmony of this pristine area for future generations.” The locals had complained that there had been around 6,000 helicopter flights into the Khumbu region last year. These commercial flights not only polluted the environment, but also deprived many porters and lodge owners of their income, they said.
After the crisis meeting, the Chief District Officer of Solukhumbu, Anoj Kumar Ghimire, expressed confidence that following the decision to resume rescue flights, a solution to the controversial commercial helicopter flights could also be found – within two weeks.
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