Industry & Tourism
For five days in spring 2026, Nepal grounded the cargo drones now hauling gear up Everest, citing security near the China border. The brief ban…
By Laxman Rawal · Jun 17, 2026
Drones have quietly become one of the most important new tools on Everest — flying loads of gear and rubbish across the deadly Khumbu Icefall so that Sherpas do not have to. So when Nepal abruptly grounded cargo-drone operations in the middle of the 2026…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The aircraft at the centre of the story is the Alta X, an American-made heavy-lift drone (from Washington-based Freefly Systems) able to carry around 12 pounds at extreme altitude. Flown by the Nepali company Airlift Technology in a project linked to the US…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
On the evening of 30 April, the Home Ministry abruptly suspended the flights, citing unspecified security concerns — reportedly around the drones' geo-mapping capabilities and Everest's sensitive position straddling the border between Nepal and China's Tibet…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
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