Buddha Air
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| Founded | 1997 | ||||||
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| Hubs | Tribhuvan International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Royal Club | ||||||
| Fleet size | 9 | ||||||
| Destinations | 12 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Jawalakhel, Nepal | ||||||
| Key people |
Surendra Bahadur Basnet (Company Chairman) Birendra B. Basnet (Managing Director) |
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| Website | www.buddhaair.com | ||||||
Buddha Air Pvt. Ltd is an airline based in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur District, Nepal, near Patan. It operates domestic as well as international services within Nepal and India, serving mainly large towns and cities in Nepal, linking Kathmandu with ten destinations and Varanasi of India. Since its establishment in 1997 it has become the largest single domestic air operator in Nepal. Its main base is Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. It also operates mountain flights from Kathmandu to the Everest range.
The airline was established on 23 April 1996 as a Private Limited Company by Surendra Bahadur Basnet, a retired Supreme Court judge and former government minister; and his son Birendra Bahadur Basnet. Operations commenced on 11 October 1997 with a sightseeing flight to Mount Everest using a brand new Beechcraft 1900D. Within ten years the company had expanded to a fleet of seven 1900Ds. In 2008 a loan from the International Finance Corporation allowed the company to expand further by purchasing two ATR 42 aircraft. Buddha Air took delivery of its first 70-seat ATR 72 in June 2010. The name of the airline is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Buddha', a title used for the much revered Siddharta Gautama.
As of April 2014, Buddha Air offers flights to the following domestic and international destinations:
The airline also offers air charter flights and daily mountain sightseeing flights. Buddha Air became the first foreign airline to start flights to Paro, Bhutan, in summer 2010, which was the airline's first international destination. Buddha Air is said to be Nepal's safest and most reliable air carrier, with only one incident in its history. Buddha Air receives their aircraft direct from manufactures. Engineers are highly trained, as are pilots, who are tested in simulators yearly in world leading institutes.
The Buddha Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2016):
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