January 22: Buddha Air is all set to add two new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet.

The private airline company bringing one of the two aircraft to the country on Friday (January 22), within 100 days of resuming air service post Covid-19 lockdown and flight ban.

The company informed that another aircraft will arrive in three months.

Buddha Air has served 375,000 passengers in the last three months after the government lifted a ban on domestic flights on September 21. Marketing and Sales Director of the company Rupesh Joshi informed that Buddha Air is preparing to add new aircraft to its fleet to increase the number of flights to its current destinations. He added that it was possible due to the passengers’ support and trust.

“The number of passengers has increased after the lockdown was lifted. We have taken this as an opportunity to add new aircraft,” said Joshi, adding, “With the addition of new aircraft, we will be able to provide better services to our customers.”

He clarified that Buddha Air has not added any new destinations and the new aircraft will be used to increase the frequency of flights to the current destinations.

The company has already started mountain flights from December 5. Buddha Air expressed its belief that the mountain flight will provide some relief to the aviation industry of Nepal which was affected for a long time due to the impact of Covid-19.

Joshi informed that the company has been providing its regular flight service and mountain flights at subsidized rate due to the decline in price of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF).

With the addition of two new aircraft, Buddha Air will now have 15 aircraft in its fleet.