Chitwan, June 23: Buddha Air, one of the largest airlines company in Nepal, will begin flight from Kathmandu-Bharatpur-Kathmandu with a 72-seater aircraft. Due to the short runway, Budha, which used to fly with 42-seater aircraft, is now going to fly with 72-seater aircraft.
Bhakta Bahadur Basnet, Manager at Buddha Air Bharatpur, informed that they are preparing to operate a large aircraft after a week. Last week Shree Airlines has completed the test flight of Kathmandu-Bharatpur 80 seater aircraft. According to Basnet, airlines is waiting for the permission from Civil Aviation Authority, Nepal (CAAN).
He said that because the runway is short, it is not possible to fill all the seats of the aircraft. According to Basnet, it is estimated that the aircraft will carry 60 to 62 passengers from Kathmandu to Bharatpur and 50 to 60 passengers from Bharatpur to Kathmandu. At present Buddha’s ATR-42 aircraft are operating in Kathmandu and Pokhara. There are nine daily Kathmandu-Bharatpur and one Bharatpur-Pokhara daily flight.
Buddha is planning to introduce ATR-72 in this route. Buddha has been flying regularly to Bharatpur since 2005. Buddha Air has served more than 11,000 passengers a month.
Now, most of the flight operators charge nearly Rs 4,700 as one-way fare. It is believed that the air fares will decrease with the operation of larger aircraft. Bharatpur Airport’s new terminal building and runway are also being expanded.
