Buddha Air (U4, Kathmandu) has settled on Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and the A320 for its maiden jet requirements airline managing director Birendra Bahadur Basnet has announced.
In a statement issued last week to mark the Nepali carrier's twentieth anniversary of operations, Basnet said three A320s would be deployed into service from 2021 onwards. The jets will be based out of the new Pokhara International Airport, currently under construction and expected to be opened in 2021.
"We have finalized on the Airbus 320 aircraft to start international operations from the new Pokhara International Airport," Basnet said. "We will start with three aircraft from August 1, 2021, and see a scope for at least 20 such aircraft within the decade."
Earlier this year, Basnet said among the destinations Buddha Air is looking at serving include Dubai International, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Singapore Changi, Istanbul Atatürk, Hong Kong International, Doha Hamad International, Delhi International, and Mumbai International.
At present, Buddha Air operates two Beech 1900Ds, three ATR42-300s and four ATR72-500s on scheduled passenger flights throughout Nepal. Another ATR72-500 is to be delivered in January next year with talks over another of the type currently ongoing for a possible June 2018 delivery.
