Buddha Air is soon receiving an additional ATR 72-212A as the aircraft is already on its way from Francazal Airport at Toulouse, France. As per the information from the airline, the aircraft will be reaching Kathmandu on 1 July 2018. Previously, the airline had announced the arrival date of June 28 but due to certain reasons the date has been extended to July 1.
Teams including flight crews, Operational Manager, Operation staff, B1/B2 Licensed Engineer, Quality Assurance Staff, Airworthiness Staff and official from Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) are in the team for receiving the additional aircraft. The ATR72 will land at Tribhuvan International Airport under the command of Captain Pramod Thapa and Captain Rabi Shrestha.
The airline has already acquired the necessary permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and the Nepalese Registration of the new aircraft will be ‘9N-AMU’ as per a media release by the airline. After the addition of the new ATR-72, the company will have altogether 11 aircraft in its fleet. After the arrival of new aircraft, it will be easy for us to conduct timely-flights and repair other aircraft when required without affecting passengers, noted airline officials.
The 10.8 Year ATR 72-212A ‘9N-AMU’ was previously operated by Air Calédonie and later was sold to Kingfisher Airlines in India. ATR aircraft are considered cost-effective, environment friendly and less noisy as compared to other aircraft.
After buzzing the skies above Nepal for 20 years, the carrier Buddha Air now has also planned to spread its wings and set course for exotic foreign destinations. The carrier has announced powering itself from one-hour to three-hour or beyond flights, and entering the long-haul international market. The airline presently has been working for the commencement of flight in New Sector connecting the two international cities Nepalgunj to New Delhi.
Established on 23 April 1996, with a fleet of a Beechcraft 1900D manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft (now Hawker Beechcraft) is a largest airline operator of Nepal today with a fleet of 10 aircraft, an employee base of 850, occupies 63 percent market share of domestic flights and is operating domestics as well as international service.
