Manthali-Lukla flight has been stopped due to heavy snow. More than 250 tourists who came to climb the mountains of Basantayam and visit the Everest region have stopped at Manthali Airport.

On Thursday morning, there were 5 flights from Manthali to Lukla. After that, due to bad weather, there were no flights for two days, said Hiron Shah, the head of the airport. "After 5 flights from Manthali to Lukla on Thursday morning, the weather in the Khumbu area became bad," he said, "Friday also, the weather in the Khumbu area did not improve, so the flight was not able to take place." 3 private company planes from Manthali have been flying to Lukla and Phaplu during the tourist season. After the weather in the Khumbu region did not improve, helicopters of private companies started to leave tourists from Lukla and Phaplu.

On Friday, Shah said that the helicopter took 45 people to Lukla and 47 people to Phaplu. "Tourists have started chartering helicopters as the visibility is low and they are not able to fly," he said, "most of the tourists are staying in hotels near the airport in the hope that the weather will improve." Similarly, he said that more than 100 tourists reached Lukla by helicopter charter till Friday afternoon. Tourists who have reached Phaplu go from there to the Everest region through roads and footpaths. He said that 217 tourists flew to Khumbu region from Manthali Airport on Wednesday when the weather was clear.