Flights to Talcha: the airstrip for Rara Lake from Nepalgunj and Surkhet

Sita Air describes the airstrip at Talcha as the link between Rara Lake and the rest of the country³. Below are the flights the airlines published, with their dates, the walk from the airstrip to the lake and the incidents on record. The district is covered on the Mugu page, the lowland hub is Nepalgunj, and other routes are in the getting-there hub.

Nepal Airlines timetable, October 2026

Nepal Airlines’ domestic summer schedule was effective from 1 to 31 October 2026 and was based on two DHC-6 aircraft¹. The page notes that it is subject to change without prior notice¹. For Talcha it listed these flights:

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal lists Rara Airport in Mugu, Karnali Province, among the domestic airports⁸. Its page for the domestic summer schedule 2026 names seven airlines: Buddha Air, Nepal Airlines Corporation, Shree Airlines, Sita Air, Summit Air, Tara Air and Yeti Airlines⁹. On fares, the authority posted a press release on domestic air fares dated 8 October 2026¹⁰.

Other operators and flight time

Sita Air says it flies Nepalgunj to Rara regularly, as scheduled and charter flights, in a Dornier 228 that takes about 30 minutes³. Nepal Vision Treks’ 8-day itinerary lists a 25-minute flight to Talcha at 2,950 m⁶. In May 2018 Buddha Air noted that flights from Nepalgunj to Talcha were irregular, and that flights from Nepalgunj or Surkhet land at Talcha⁴.

Talcha Airport

Talcha Airport, also known as Rara Airport (ICAO VNRR), is a domestic airport in Chhayanath Rara serving Rara National Park in Karnali Province². It was built in 1975 and operated with a single gravel runway until 2015, when the runway was asphalted over². Sita Air describes it as the airstrip that connects Rara Lake with the rest of the country³.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal’s airport profile gives the figures below, and they are the ones to use where operators differ¹¹:

The airport is about 2.5 hours’ walk from Rara Lake¹¹. In July 2019 the 570 m runway had been blacktopped in 2015, the airport regularly suffered landslides during the monsoon and often faced an intrusion of cattle, and its control office was in a state of neglect¹².

From the airstrip to the lake

The operators give different figures for the last stretch:

The lake lies at 2,990 m³. It is the largest freshwater lake in the Nepalese Himalayas and the main feature of Rara National Park⁷. For the walk itself see the Rara Lake trek page.

When to fly

Nepal Vision Treks gives September to November and May to June as the best time to visit Rara Lake⁶, while Summit Air gives August to October⁵. From December to March temperatures are below freezing and heavy snowfall blocks the way to the lake; April to June is warm⁷.

Incidents on record

• On 26 May 2010 a Tara Air Twin Otter flying from Surkhet to Rara with 18 passengers and 3 crew made an emergency landing after its cabin door opened five minutes after take-off².
• On 21 November 2011 a Makalu Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan from Surkhet skidded off the runway at Rara and hit a rock, injuring four of the 11 occupants².