Buddha Air

History

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. The name of the airline is derived from the Sanskrit word Buddha, a title used for the much revered Siddhartha Gautama. Operations commenced on 11 October 1997 with a sightseeing flight to Mount Everest using a brand new Beechcraft 1900D. In 2001, the airline partnered with the Bhutanese flag carrier Drukair to charter flights during the peak tourist season. 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 72-seat ATR 72 in June 2010.

International operations

Buddha Air became the first international airline to operate charter flights to Paro Airport in Bhutan in August 2010.

In 2011, Buddha Air began international flights from Pokhara Airport to Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, India; however, these flights were discontinued soon after.

Kolkata – Buddha Air first launched the Kathmandu–Kolkata route on 27 May 2019, operating three weekly flights between Tribhuvan International Airport and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata with a flight duration of about 1 hour 30 minutes. The service was later suspended in December 2019 amid low demand and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline resumed direct flights to Kolkata on 19 October 2025 after a six-year gap, initially operating three weekly return services (Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays) with ATR-72 turboprop aircraft. The flight time is approximately 1 hour 35 minutes, and this reinstatement reconnects Kathmandu and Kolkata as part of Buddha Air’s international network.

Destinations

Buddha Air flies to the following destinations as of August 2024.

Buddha Air also operates scheduled mountain sightseeing flights from Kathmandu to Mount Everest range and from Pokhara to the Annapurna Massif. The flights usually depart in the early morning hours and return to the respective airports one hour later.

Fleet

Current fleet

, Buddha Air operates the following aircraft:

Former fleet

Hangar

Buddha Air is the first airline in Nepal, and one of few in South Asia, to have a closed-door hangar facility. Built at a cost of US$2.5 million at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Buddha Air also provides aircraft maintenance facilities to other airlines, including the Bangladeshi airline Novoair which sends its ATR aircraft for maintenance at the hangar.

Buddha Air is constructing a hangar that will be able to accommodate aircraft up to the size of an Airbus A319 at Pokhara International Airport.

Accidents and incidents

• On 11 November 2003, a scheduled Buddha Air flight from Kathmandu enroute to Biratnagar mistakenly landed in Bhairahawa Airport, owing to the air traffic and a subsequent slip-up in communication in Kathmandu.
• On 25 September 2011, Buddha Air Flight 103 crashed while attempting to land at Tribhuvan International Airport after a sightseeing flight of the Mount Everest region. All 19 passengers and crew on board the Beechcraft 1900D died. Out of the 19 passengers, 10 were Indian nationals, two were US nationals, one was Japanese and six were Nepalese. The crew of three were also Nepalese.
• On 18 December 2020, Buddha Air Flight 505, which took off from Tribhuvan International Airport enroute to Janakpur Airport landed in Pokhara Airport. According to the airline, there was a mix-up due to lapses in communication and failure to follow detailed standard operating procedures.
• On 16 December 2021, Buddha Air Flight 360, which took off from Bharatpur Airport to Tribhuvan International Airport with 19 passengers and three crew on board, made an emergency landing at Bharatpur Airport when its left engine failed. Passengers were transferred to another flight and flown to Kathmandu.
• On 11 July 2024, Buddha Air Flight 805, an ATR 72-500 on a flight from Kathmandu, skidded off the runway as it landed at Gautam Buddha Airport. All 59 passengers and all four crew members were safely evacuated from the aircraft without injuries.
• On 2 January 2026, Buddha Air Flight 901, an ATR 72-500 on a flight from Kathmandu, suffered a runway excursion while landing at Bhadrapur Airport, injuring seven people.

Sponsorships

In 2015, Buddha Air became the shirt sponsor of Biratnagar based football club Morang XI, who played in Nepal's highest football league, the Nepal National League.

References

References

1. "Civil Aviation Report 2017". Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
2. [https://www.buddhaair.com/royal-club Royal Club]
3. [https://holidays.buddhaair.com/ Buddha Holidays]
4. "Company Profile 2018". Buddha Air.
5. "[https://www.buddhaair.com/destinations Domestic/International]." Buddha Air. Retrieved from website. "The company headquarters is located at Jawalakhel, Lalitpur"
6. "[https://www.buddhaair.com/contact-us Contact Information] Buddha Air. Retrieved from Buddha Air website. "Buddha Air Pvt. Ltd Pulchowk Rd Patan"
7. (15 October 2013). "My Business: Nepalese airline taking off". BBC.
8. [[Flight International]] 27 March 2007
9. (24 February 2023). "Domestic air traffic soars, hits a record 4.46m flyers". The Kathmandu Post.
10. "The EU Air Safety List - European Commission".
11. "Company Profile". Buddha Air.
12. "History". Buddha Air.
13. (December 2001). "Kuensel Highlights". Canadian Cooperation Office.
14. (July 2007). "Seven {{sic". Buddha Air.
15. Seth, Minakshi. (18 July 2012). "IFC Loan to Buddha Air to Improve Air Travel Connectivity in Nepal". International Finance Corporation.
16. "Bigger Aircraft Better Comfort in Nepalese SKY". Buddha Air.
17. link. (15 April 2012 Bhutan Broadcasting Service, 24 August 2010.)
18. [https://www.buddhaair.com/destinations "Buddha Air Lucknow flight"] accessed 28 September 2012.
19. "Flight Routes".
20. "Domestic Flights Schedules". Buddha Air.
21. "Domestic Schedule". Buddha Air.
22. "International Schedule". Buddha Air.
23. "Buddha Air suspends scheduled flights to Paro".
24. "Buddha Air to launch budget flights to Kolkata".
25. "High operating costs and few passengers force Buddha Air to cancel Kolkata flights". The Kathmandu Post.
26. (24 March 2018). "Buddha Air to resume Surkhet flights". The Himalayan Times.
27. "#HappyAlert". Buddha Air.
28. "Annapurna Experience Mountain Flight". Buddha Air.
29. [http://www.worldairroutes.com/BuddhaYeti.html World Air Routes] retrieved 18 November 2006
30. (September 2025). "Global Airline Guide 2025 - Buddha Air".
31. "बुद्ध एयरले थप्यो १८औं एटीआर जहाज, साउन १ देखि सुर्खेत र धनगढीमा अतिरिक्त उडान". bizmandu.com.
32. (23 January 2023). "Buddha Air sells its 25-year old aircraft to Canadian company". MyRepublica.
33. (26 January 2016). "Maintenance facilities Agreement between Buddha Air and NovoAir at TIA, Nepal". Aviation Nepal.
34. (15 May 2019). "Buddha Air to build hangar in Pokhara". Aviation Nepal.
35. (14 November 2003). "Winging it". Nepali Times.
36. [http://nycaviation.com/2011/09/mount-everest-tour-plane-crashes-in-nepal/ "Mount Everest Tour Plane Crashes in Nepal."] NYCAviation. 25 September 2011
37. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15051112 "Nepal tourist plane crashes near Kathmandu killing 19"] BBC News. 25 September 2011
38. (20 December 2020). "How a Buddha Air plane flew the wrong way and landed 255 kilometres away". The Kathmandu Post.
39. (23 December 2020). "Nepali airline Buddha Air flies passengers to the wrong airport". CNN.
40. (16 December 2021). "Buddha Air flight makes emergency landing in Bharatpur due to engine failure".
41. (12 July 2024). "Plane with 59 passengers skids off runway in Nepal, no injuries reported".
42. (2026-01-03). "Bhadrapur plane crash update: Injured co-pilot; six passengers discharged".
43. "Nepal Police and Morang match end in draw". The Kathmandu Post.