Sudipta Dev – Mumbai
Nepal-based airline, Buddha Air is operating from India, from Varanasi in particular, for the last three years. Currently the 50 minute flights are operational only twice a week – Tuesdays and Saturdays. It is an ATR aircraft, which is 72 seater and also 47 seater, depending upon the group size. In Nepal, Buddha Air’s mountain flights are very popular. The Everest Experience which is a mountain flight-seeing tour with Buddha Air is a particular favourite with overseas visitors. “On Varanasi – Kathmandu flights we have lot of people from overseas, though the number of Indians have also been growing. For Indians and Nepalese the the fare is very low. While the lowest Air India one way fare is Rs 11,000, we normally offer one way fare at Rs 5000,” mentioned Ambuj K Narayan, managing partner, Classic Holidays, GSA for Buddha Air in Varanasi. He pointed out that because fares are so low, this has resulted in the airline becoming popular on this route.
Narayan is also the GSA for internal domestic flights in Nepal like Pokhra, Nepalgung, and other places. “A lot of agents from Mumbai and other parts of the country deal with us. We regularly send mailers to them,” he informed.
Till last year on Kathmandu-Varanasi route the airline was operating only the 47 seater aircraft, from this season it has started operating a 72 seater aircraft. “If the demand increases, we will increase the number of flights, we have approval for all seven days. We are looking forward to very good boom in this industry in the coming months, particularly since both central and UP state government are focused on promoting tourism, and Varanasi being the PM’s constituency we are expecting something great to happen for this industry,” added Narayan.
Buddha Air Everest Experience starts at 6 am in the morning. The passengers can get awe inspiring views of Himalayan peaks, lakes and glaciers from their guaranteed window seat. The flight is for 50 minutes. The destinations that Buddha Air flies to in Nepal includes Bhadrapur, Bhairahawa, Biratnagar, Bharatpur, Dhangadhi, Pokhara, Simara, Nepalgunj, Janakpur, Tumlingtar.