An aggressive domestic airline, Buddha Air, plans to develop its business on the STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) route by turning it into a hub for three distinct destinations.
The company plans to aggressively expand its business on the STOL routes by making Manthali for the east, Pokhara for the west and Nepalgunj for the far west as a hub. For achieving this, the company plans to add four twin-engined aircraft by 2023.
Ten twin-engine aircraft will be added by Buddha Air by 2023, and two more by 2024, two more by 2026, and another two more by 2026. STOL routes are best served by the twin-engine plane with 19 passengers.
According to Dipendra Karna, Communications Manager, Buddha Air, the airlines had been flying earlier from Pokhara to Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa and Bharatpur two to three times a week. With the increase in numbers of passengers in this route, the company now makes daily flights in these routes.
“Since the beginning of 2023, we are preparing for air services with state-of-the-art new aircraft to make far remote destinations reachable and accessible to all,” the company said in a statement.
One of the largest domestic airlines, Buddha Air, aims to purchase three more ATR 72 aircraft soon. Beechcraft 1900D and ATR-72 500 aircraft are among the company’s current fleet of 15 aircraft.
