ATR-72 aircraft started regular flights at the Surkhet airport after a successful test flight conducted at the airport on October 30 by ATR aircraft.
The information officer of the company, Dipendra Kumar Karna, said that the Buddha Air's ATR aircraft made its first commercial flight to Surkhet with 70 passengers including senior officials of the authority.
Buddha Air's ATR 72 aircraft will operate a daily flight between Kathmandu and Surkhet. Earlier, the company was operating a daily flight to that destination through ATR-42 aircraft with a capacity of 47 seats.
It is believed that flights through large ships will help the development of the tourism sector of Karnali province. Niraula, the authority's spokesperson, says that after the regular flight through the ATR-72 aircraft, the air fare of the route will also be cheaper.
At present, the air fare between Kathmandu and Surkhet is fixed at Rs 14,000. According to authorities, the capacity of the airport has been expanded for flights by large ships.
Earlier, before the COVID-19 epidemic, Shree Airlines, a private airline, had conducted a test flight at Surkhet Airport. However, there was no regular flight to that destination after the pandemic. Anil Manandhar, manager of Shree Airlines informed that they plan to operate flights to that destination soon.
After the regular flight of Buddha Air, the ATR aircraft of Yeti Air will also fly, the authority said. Yeti Airlines spokesperson Sudarshan Bertaula said that there is a plan to fly ATR aircraft to Surkhet.
Buddha Air started flights to Surkhet from February 1, 2013 with Beechcraft 1900D (18 seats) and has been operating regular flights with ATR-42 for the past five years. According to the company, the minimum fare will be maintained around the Kathmandu-Nepalgunj route when the flight is operated through the ATR-72 ship.
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