Buddha Air to fly from Janakpur to Ayodhya

Kathmandu: Buddha Air, a leading private airline, will operate direct flights from Janakpur, Nepal to Ayodhya, India to promote religious tourism. The company said that it is expanding flights to Janakpurdham and Ayodhya with the aim of attracting religious tourists.

The ‘Sita-Ram’ relationship has been going on since the Tretayuga. Witnessing this mythical, religious connection, a flight is planned to connect Janakpurdham and Ayodhya. Buddha Air has applied to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) for permission to fly directly from Janakpur to Ayodhya.

The government of Province No. 2 has also been informed. During the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal three years ago, it was agreed to develop Janakpur and Ayodhya as sister cities and to build a Ramayana circuit.

The flight from Janakpurdham to the airport under construction in Ayodhya will be 50 minutes. The company is confident that religious tourists from both countries will benefit from this flight. As Janakpur Airport is a domestic airport, the number of Indian tourists from this destination is expected to increase in the near future if the concerned bodies facilitate the establishment of customs and immigration offices for international flights.

In order to strengthen its presence in the post-Covid-19 flight market, Buddha has stated in a press release that it is going to expand the aggressive market. Additional flights will be added to each destination depending on the passenger pressure.

Buddha Air currently has 14 aircraft, including nine ATR-72s, three ATR-42s, and two Beechcraft. The company plans to expand its presence in the airspace, which has been weakened due to Covid-19. At present, Buddha is flying 120 times a day.

“Even if the number of flights increases, it will be difficult to return to normalcy until foreign tourists arrive,” said Rupesh Joshi, Buddha Air’s Marketing Director. Buddha Air has been operating nine daily flights to Pokhara, eight to Biratnagar, seven to Bhairahawa, five to Simara, Bharatpur, Bhadrapur, four to Janakpur and Nepalgunj.

Buddha Air has stated that it will expand the flight to other destinations depending on the pressure of passengers. Buddha Air is currently flying to Bhadrapur, Tumlingtar, Biratnagar, Rajbiraj, Janakpur, Simara, Bharatpur, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj, Surkhet and Dhangadhi.

Apart from this, mountain flights are also being operated from Kathmandu and Pokhara. The company has mentioned that it plans to resume flights to India after the approval of both countries.