Kedarnath Helicopter Group Booking: Rules & Steps

Kedarnath helicopter group booking is done on IRCTC HeliYatra with a Group ID: one ticket carries up to 6 passengers and one user ID can hold 2 tickets, so 12 passengers per ID. A group of 13 or more needs a second user ID, and IRCTC says a group may be seated in separate helicopters.

This guide turns the scattered IRCTC rules into a planner for families and tour organisers. It covers the limits, the booking steps, how many tickets and user IDs each group size needs, how children affect a sortie, what 6 or 12 people pay at base fare, and what happens if someone cancels. Every rule below was read on the IRCTC HeliYatra pages on 5 October 2026; this site is an independent guide, not IRCTC and not an operator.

How Kedarnath helicopter group booking works on IRCTC

Only IRCTC HeliYatra sells Kedarnath helicopter tickets online, and it offers two ways to book. You enter a Group ID to book tickets for several pilgrims at once, or a Unique Registration Number to book for one person. IRCTC also states that a single passenger can be booked through the Char Dham yatra registration number even when the registration was made as a group. For the wider process, see our Kedarnath helicopter booking guide.

Group ID or Unique Registration Number

The Group ID belongs to a tour created on the official Tourist Care Uttarakhand portal, where the organiser enters the number of tourists. The Unique Registration Number identifies one registered pilgrim. If you are booking for five relatives on one tour, use the Group ID; if one family member joins separately, the Unique Registration Number route is the one IRCTC describes for a single traveller.

Why the Yatra registration comes first

Registration is mandatory before you can book. The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and Tourist Care Uttarakhand handle the Yatra Registration Letter, which carries a QR code, and the Kedarnath Temple is part of that registered Char Dham yatra. Do the registration first, because the booking page asks for the Group ID or number it produces. IRCTC publishes its rules on the IRCTC HeliYatra general instructions page.

Group booking limits at a glance

Source: IRCTC HeliYatra general instructions and FAQ, read 5 October 2026. The limits apply per user ID, so a second user ID is the official way to book more than 12.

Step by step: from Group ID to confirmed tickets

1. Create the tour and get the Group ID. Register on Tourist Care Uttarakhand, create a tour with your dates and the number of tourists, and keep the Group ID and each member's Yatra Registration Letter.
2. Sign up on HeliYatra with an OTP. The user ID is your registered mobile number, verified by OTP on heliyatra.irctc.co.in.
3. Enter the Group ID and add passengers. Choose the helipad and date, then add each passenger. Each ticket takes up to 6 names.
4. Pay and keep every passenger's original ID. IRCTC requires original ID proof at the helipad; screenshots are not valid.

Booking windows open in short phases. The window for 1 to 15 October 2026 opened on 22 September, so large groups should have registration and user IDs ready before the next window opens.

Booking for 13 or more passengers

How many user IDs and tickets you need

The table is derived from the two official rules: 6 passengers per ticket and 2 tickets per user ID.

Open question: IRCTC's text does not say whether one Group ID can be entered under two different user IDs. Check this at booking or ask IRCTC support, and do not assume it works. IRCTC also does not publish a maximum size for a Group ID, so we do not state one.

Agents get no bulk seats

IRCTC states that no agent commission applies and that agents are treated as normal users. A tour operator booking for your group faces the same 6 and 12 limits and the same short windows as you, so there is no separate bulk allocation to buy into.

Will your group fly in the same helicopter?

What IRCTC says about separate helicopters

Seating depends on helicopter load and sortie planning, and IRCTC says a group may be accommodated in separate helicopters depending on operational requirements. Nothing guarantees that 12 people on two tickets fly together. The helipads are Phata, Sirsi and Guptkashi, and the flight ends at Kedarnath, where pilgrims walk the last stretch to the temple. Gaurikund is the trailhead of the roughly 16 km trek that the helicopter replaces.

Children and infants: the per-sortie limit

A child aged 2 or above gets a seat at the full adult fare. An infant under 2 has no seat and no fare. One sortie takes at most 2 children, 2 infants and 4 adults, subject to weight. The table below is our reading of the official text, so treat it as a check, not a promise. The full child rules are in our Kedarnath helicopter child and infant rules.

Weight is checked person by person

Weight is assessed individually, and one passenger's spare allowance does not offset another's excess. A lighter relative cannot cover an adult above 80 kg, so weigh everyone before travel and budget for the Rs 150 per kg charge where it applies.

What a group pays: base fares for 6 and 12 passengers

These totals are simple arithmetic on the round-trip fares shown on IRCTC Check Fare on 5 October 2026, base fare only.

Add-ons that change the total

Not included: the Rs 300 plus GST convenience fee per passenger for a round trip, which is non-refundable; payment-gateway charges; dynamic pricing under the UCADA policy (20 percent when booking 15 to 6 days ahead, 40 percent online for 5 to 1 days ahead, and 50 percent at the helipad counter on the journey day); extra-weight charges; and a fuel surcharge for journeys from 1 October 2026, whose amount is DATA UNAVAILABLE on the sheet. We list no operator rankings or group discounts because IRCTC publishes none.

Cancellations, no-shows and refunds for a group

Only the passenger can cancel online on IRCTC. Refunds depend on how far ahead of the slot you cancel.

The convenience fee and payment-gateway charges are not refunded. If the service is cancelled for weather, technical reasons or government orders, the fare is refunded excluding those fees, and passengers are not carried to the next slot. Whether a late member delays or voids the rest of the group is DATA UNAVAILABLE in the official text, so plan for everyone to be at the helipad 1 hour before the slot; arriving later is treated as a no-show. Details are in our Kedarnath helicopter cancellation and refund guide.

Group organiser checklist for the day of the flight

• Documents: original ID proof for every passenger and each member's Yatra Registration Letter with its QR code. Screenshots of ID are not accepted.
• Timing: helicopter services run from 06:00 to 18:00. Reach the entry point about 2 hours before your slot and be at the boarding point at least 1 hour before.
• Luggage: one piece of baggage of up to 2 kg per passenger, so pack warm layers in a small bag. Kedarnath Temple stands at 3,583 m and the flight from Phata or Sirsi takes roughly 8 to 10 minutes.
• Same-day return: passengers returning the same day must report back within 1 hour 30 minutes of arriving at the Kedarnath helipad, which matters for a large group that moves slowly on the temple approach.
• Weight: weigh every member, including infants held on a lap, because infant weight is added to the accompanying adult.
• Complaints: write to [email protected] within 15 days of departure if something goes wrong.

Late-season 2026: what to expect before the yatra closes

Large groups are the hardest to seat in short booking windows. Closing is expected around Bhai Dooj on 11 November 2026, but it has not been announced. The next window date is DATA UNAVAILABLE as of 5 October 2026, so check heliyatra.irctc.co.in directly. If a window sells out, our guide on what to do when Kedarnath helicopter tickets are sold out lists the options.

Written and reviewed by the Kedarnath Helicopter Yatra editorial team. Facts checked against primary sources; see the reference above.

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