Introduction
If you’re someone who is deeply interested to explore some magical gems of India having included the Ladakh bike trip, Taj Mahal, Kanniyakumari, Camel rides in Jaisalmer, winters in Gulmarg, trek to Kedarnath. Now here I’m, adding another magnificent experience everyone has to experience atleast once in their lifetime. As always I say, it’s not about the destination every time, even the journey matters a lot.
Flight to Leh
Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman, this is your captain speaking from the flight deck. We’ve just crossed Himachal Pradesh and entered the beautiful Ladakh valley where the average height of the mountains is above 20,000 ft. This is the magnificent morning flight to Leh, which would be one of the most memorable flights to Leh.
Geography of Leh and Ladakh
If you know the geography of Ladakh, to reach Leh, the capital city, one has to travel via Srinagar or Manali by road. To reach Srinagar is another humongous task due to complicated Jammu Srinagar highway roads. Reaching Manali isn’t a difficult task, but to Leh from Manali is a herculean task. You ascend many passes in just a span of 500 kms. This is how you skip those passes by aerial way, getting the spectacular views of the long range of snow capped lovely mountains.
Leh Airport, the Highest of India
As mentioned in previous blogs, Leh is the highest commercial airport and used by defense in India, which has many complications for commercial operations due to national security, no instruments to help pilots land, weather, no operations after 1 PM, etc. So every flight to Leh has to overcome each of these challenges before carrying out a successful flight to Leh. Even the restrictions in the airport are pretty much strict.
Almost all the localities, defence personnel, tourists and almost everyone depend on air travel to reach Delhi and other parts of India and it becomes inevitable in winters as there is no road connectivity at all from both Manali and Srinagar. Even at that time, flights get canceled, delayed due to weather issues. But to get out of the valley, air travel would be the only option.
Airlines operating to Leh
Many airlines operate flights to Leh and usually operate A320 mostly and a few B737s. Goair once had the highest market share to Leh and they shut down the operations recently. I read a news article where they mentioned that, after that event, the cost of flight tickets went sky high even up to 20-30k for an hour flight.
Complications for commercial operation
The airport can handle only a fixed number of aircrafts at a time as there are only 2 parking gates for commercial operations and there’s a much larger apron for air force operations. I remember our captain’s weird announcement, when we were taxiing out of Delhi and had to wait for 20 mins because there weren’t any parking gates available at that moment in Leh airport.
Currently Spicejet, Indigo, Air India, Vistara operate daily flights to Leh. Spicejet operates B737 to Delhi and Vistara operates only one scheduled flight to Delhi. Air India and Indigo operate A320s and majority of them start from Delhi and some operations to Jammu, Srinagar, Mumbai, Chandigarh too.
Approach to Leh
The approach to Leh is a very tricky one and it has no navigation aids, ILS, just has to continue the visual approach. So weather would be a very crucial factor. The pilots need special training to carry out a flight to Leh as at such altitude, the performance of the aircraft decreases drastically and the airfield is surrounded by mountains of height above 22,000 ft+. Hence the pilots visually descend gradually marking 3 left turns marking various checkpoints and finally land from just beside the monastery.
The Beauty of Leh
Keeping all things aside, the view from the window is just spectacular. The long long range of snow covered mountains looks like a thick snow blanket, rivers flowing, glowing dark blue lakes and clear sky, makes it much much more beautiful. The flight duration in Ladakh valley is less like almost 20-30 mins but the landscapes keep changing every second and every landscape looks spectacular.
Best Seat for the flight
If you’re someone who’s traveling to Leh, then one has to definitely experience the surreal beauty of the mountains from the sky. Remember to book the seats “F” when you’re traveling to Leh and seat “A” when traveling from Leh to back. Even paying extra bucks to get a window seat is completely worth it. Don’t forget to add this amazing experience to your bucket list and enjoy some of the best views of the Himalayas.
