Buddha Air to start Kathmandu-Kolkata nonstop flights from May

Kolkata (TAN): Nepal-based private airline Buddha Air will start operating nonstop flights between this east Indian city and Kathmandu from May 27.

The airline will operate three flights a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on this route.

The U4 163 from the Nepal capital will leave at 0800 hours and land in Kolkata at 0930. The return flight will depart at 1030 and reach Kathmandu at 1230. All are local time.

The airline, which held a news conference in Kolkata, the capital of India’s West Bengal state, also said its travel subsidiary Buddha Holidays would be offering tour packages in both Nepal and places in and around Kolkata. Kolkata used to be the capital of British India before it was shifted to Delhi and has a lot of historical sites related to the colonial era.

Indian nationals do not need a visa to enter Nepal. As a form of identification, they need to produce either a passport or a voter identity card.

“We are very hopeful that this new flight will boost tourist arrivals and strengthen the religious and cultural relationship that India and Nepal share with each other,” Buddha Air’s country manager for India Uddhab Subedi said.

The airline, which has a fleet of 12 aircraft, now mostly serves domestic destinations in Nepal. The one international flight it currently operates is to Varanasi in India.

Buddha Air also plans to fly to Guwahati, the capital of India’s Assam state, from August 3. It will operate two weekly flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays on this route.

On the Kathmandu-Kolkata route, the airline plans to operate an ATR 72-500 aircraft with 70 seats.