December 8: Buddha Air, one of the leading airliners of Nepal, is all set to start flight along the Kathmandu-Surkhet route with ATR-72 aircraft.

The airline company will kick off its flight with ATR-72 aircraft along the route from December 16. The minimum fare for this route is Rs 7,000.

The airline company had conducted test flight with the aircraft along the route a month ago. Buddha Air has been operating flights along the Kathmandu-Surkeht route with ATR-42 aircraft for the last five years. The company is now preparing to fly aircraft with 72 seats in the same route.

The airline company will conduct two flights a day along the route. The company will operate the Kathmandu-Surkhet flight at 10:00 am every day while the return flight from Surkeht is scheduled for 11:35 am. “We are preparing to operate flights with bigger aircraft keeping in view the increasing number of passengers and their convenience,” said a representative of Buddha Air.

A press statement issued by the airlines says that operating flights through bigger aircraft will reduce the fare and operation costs.

The company has already announced to purchase two ATR-72 aircraft for the same route. Buddha Air has 14 ATR series aircraft. Of them, three are ATR 42 series while 11 are from ATR 72 series. The airline makes domestic flight to more than a dozen destinations regularly.