Buddha Air set to start Lucknow service today
Although Buddha Air had aimed to connect Lucknow from Pokhara, the plan had to be put on hold due to technical difficulties
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KATHMANDU, JAN 07 -
Buddha Air is scheduled to start its Kathmandu-Lucknow service on Friday with a 47-seater ATR 42-320 aircraft.
According to the carrier, the one-way fare for the hour-long Kathmandu-Lucknow flight has been set at IRs 3,500. The flight will depart at 7 p.m. from Tribhuvan International Airport and return at 8:15 p.m. local time from Lucknow. Buddha Air said the service would operate thrice a week (Sunday, Wednesday and Friday) and that it planned to upgrade it to a daily shortly.
Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state of India will be Buddha Air’s second international destination after Bhutan. On Aug. 23, the airline began commercial
flights to Paro, Bhutan with an 18-seater Beechcraft 1900D.
Buddha Air went international after 14 years of domestic service. It is the first foreign airline to serve Bhutan.
A Buddha Air official said that India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation had given permission to proceed to operate alpha operations a month ago. “The objective of connecting Lucknow is due to high tourist prospects that will not only benefit Indian tourists but Nepalis too,” said Rupesh Joshi, senior marketing manager of Buddha Air.
Although Buddha Air had aimed to connect Lucknow from Pokhara, the plan had to be put on hold due to technical difficulties. Joshi said that the Indian government did not allow use of the same airspace for the return flight due to technical concerns.
“We have asked for two-way space from Pokhara; and as soon as the route is approved, we will begun our Pokhara-Lucknow flight,” added Joshi. Buddha Air had applied for permission to start direct flights from Pokhara to Lucknow from March 1, 2010. The airline has announced connecting seven Indian cities by the end of 2011. In the first phase, it plans to link Lucknow, Kolkata and Patna. In the second phase, it plans to extend its service to Varanasi, Guwahati, Derhadun and Gorakhpur.
Nepal and India revised their air service agreement in September 2009 increasing the number of weekly flight seats to 30,000 and opening 10 new destinations. Nepali airlines are permitted to fly to 21 destinations in India. Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines operate flights to Kathmandu. SpiceJet is the latest carrier to connect Nepal and India.
Buddha Air started operations in October 1997 with a Beech 1900D aircraft. It operates domestic services linking Kathmandu with nine destinations. The airline has three ATR 42-320, one ATR-72-500 and four Beechcraft 1900D aircraft in its fleet.
Posted on: 2011-01-07 09:21
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