( Nepal Based Buddha Air to resume services after a gap of almost six years)
BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY
KOLKATA | 8 JULY 2025
From September this year, after a hiatus of almost five years Kolkata to Kathmandu direct flight services will resume. The duration of the flight will be one hour and thirty minutes and will cost Rs.18,000 for both ways journey.
Earlier, Air India used to operate flight services thrice a week from Kolkata to Kathmandu before the Covid -19 pandemic outbreak, but after the international flight services had resumed in 2022, till today the national carrier has not resumed the flight operations till today.
Buddha Air, a Nepal based private airlines operator have come forward to operate ATR-72 aircrafts with 72 seater passenger capacities and will operate flights four days a week daily initially.
The airlines is yet to announce the dates of inaugural flight and the timings though, it has been finalized that the four weekly flights will be on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.
The announcement came during the TNM Global Forum’s Roadshow and Travel Synergy at Hotel Hindustan International in Kolkata today. Both Smt. Susmita Ghosh, Founder member and Mr. Raj Basu, Founder Advisor of Travel Network Mart (TNM) Global Forum have welcomed the upcoming new flight operations of Buddha Air.
Dr. Kaulesh Kumar, Secretary General of Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) has said that the new direct flight services from Kathmandu to Kolkata will open new vistas in the travel and tourism sector and will particularly boost the Buddhist Tourism in the country.
During his recent visit to Kathmandu, Dr. Kaulesh Kumar had urged the ,local minister there to start direct flight services for improving connectivity with the Buddhist tourism destinations in both the countries.
Established on 11 October 1997, Buddha Air flies to 15 national and international destinations daily and have a fleet of 18 aircrafts including sixteen numbers of ATR -72 aircrafts and two numbers of ATR – 42 aircrafts .
After more than two decades of flight operations it has a whopping 65 percent market share in the country and is a preferred airlines for both the domestic and international departures.
Presently, Buddha Air operates three day a week flight services from Varanasi to Kathmandu.
State chief minister Mamata Banerjee also wants increasing number of international flight operations and international flight operators from NSCBI Airport in Kolkata.
Though in 2019, Buddha Air had introduced Kolkata to Kathmandu three days a week flight services , but it was later withdrawn due to some problems.
Buddha Air aims to cater to the growing demands of seamless travel between India and Nepal.
The story of Buddha Air begins with a maiden flight to the top of the world on a Beechcraft 1900D on 11 October 1997. Since then, the family owned company have grown to be the largest and longest operating privately owned domestic airlines of Nepal.
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