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| Founded | 1997 | |||
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| Hubs | Tribhuvan International Airport | |||
| Frequent-flyer program | Royal Club | |||
| Fleet size | 9 | |||
| Destinations | 10 | |||
| Headquarters | Jawalakhel, Nepal | |||
| Key people | Surendra B. Basnet (Chairman) | |||
| Website | http://www.buddhaair.com | |||
Buddha Air Pvt. Ltd is an airline based in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur District, Nepal, near Patan.[1][2] It operates domestic services within Nepal, serving mainly large towns and cities in Nepal, linking Kathmandu with nine destinations. Its main base is Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu.[3] It also operates mountain flights from Kathmandu to the Langtang range.[4]
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The airline started operations in October 1997 with a brand new Beech 1900D.The name of the airline is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Buddha' meaning enlightened preferably a title used for the much revered Siddharta Gautama. Buddha Air is unique in flying only new aircraft that are delivered from the factory. The average age of the aircraft are 4 years.[4]
On 25 September 2011, Buddha Air Flight 103 crashed during a tourist flight of the Mount Everest region. The flight, operating with a Beech 1900 D and 19 passengers- mostly foreign tourists- crashed in Nepal according to reports. The aircraft apparently lost contact with the control tower near Kathmandu's airport.
16 tourists (10 Indians on board, two Americans, a Japanese citizen and three Nepalis) and three crew members were on the flight.[5][6]
Buddha Air offers scheduled flights to the following domestic destinations (as of July 2011):[7]
The airline also offers chartered flights and daily Mountain Flights.[8] Buddha Air became the first foreign airline to start flights to Paro, Bhutan, in summer 2010 as charters only.[9]
As of September 25, 2011 the Buddha Air fleet includes[10]:
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