Founded in 1997, Buddha Air is Nepal’s principal domestic carrier and the nation’s largest airline. Focusing mostly on domestic flights, the airline operates a mixed fleet of ATR42 and ATR72 aircraft. Furthermore, Buddha Air is generally considered the safest and most reliable domestic airline in the country.

Booking Buddha Air

Buddha Air fares appear to be entirely fixed. In that sense, ticket prices will cost the same throughout the airline’s schedule. For the route between Kathmandu and Bhairahawa, the ticket was listed as USD 90 per segment, per person. In the end, I ended up paying a total of USD 172.70 per passenger for a round-trip flight between Kathmandu and Bhairahawa (Lumbini). This included a USD 8 discount for purchasing the fare on the Buddha Air website.

Check-in

I was booked on the first Buddha Air flight to Bhairahawa of the day, scheduled to depart at 07.55. Playing it safe, I decided to arrive at the Domestic Terminal early at 06.00. This turned out to be an unnecessary exercise, as check-in for Bhairahawa flights only opened an hour before at 06.55. With few chairs, no WiFi internet, as well as dirty and flooded toilets, this was quite a miserable wait.

Sure enough, the check-in counters opened right on time, prompting a frenzy of passengers to flock into the check-in line. Thankfully, the line was fast moving and before long, we were at the front of the line. After providing our passports and reconfirming that we were flying to Bhairahawa on the 07.55 departure, we were soon issued our boarding passes and were sent on our merry way.

Delay after delay

After making our way to the departure lounge, it was clear that our departure time would be pushed back due to the fog at Bhairahawa. Sure enough, an announcement soon echoed throughout the gate detailing a delayed departure time at 09.00. While I kept myself entertained by the countless interesting planes passing by the terminal, I also appreciate that Buddha Air offers complimentary WiFi at the gate.

The revised departure time of 09.00 came and went, accompanied by radio silence from the airline. Before long, a slew of passengers started crowding the agent at the customer service desk. There was no estimated departure time, which was frankly not too surprising. For one, the flight was ready to depart at any given time; however, this was entirely dependent on the weather conditions in Bhairahawa improving. At this time, hot tea was also distributed to passengers affected by the delay.

I spent over an hour at the gate, intensely watching the monitors installed at the gate showing the live feed of the airport conditions at Buddha Air destinations. Seeing as how the weather was not improving, I finally decided to head to the nice little Swoniga Lounge near Gates 1-3. This ended up being an excellent decision as our flight was further delayed to 11.30.

Boarding

Having spent the better part of two hours at the Swoniga Lounge, I came back to Gate 6 after hearing that Yeti Air has started boarding their Bhairahawa passengers. Sadly, even as we neared our second revised departure time of 11.30, there was still no indication of boarding. As the live feed monitors showed the weather barely clearing, it appears that Buddha Air was erring on the side of caution. It was only an hour later, at 12.30, that a line formed for Bhairahawa. Eight minutes later, we were finally called to board the buses that would take us to our aircraft. Finally!

Understandably, we had to wait for all passengers to board the bus before we were driven to our parking stand. This process took 12 minutes, and that’s before accounting for a further 13-minute wait before we could board our plane. Regardless, I made the best of it by glueing my eyes out the window, watching the various planes around.

Our flight today is operated by 9N-ANI, an ATR 72-500 which was first delivered to India’s Kingfisher Airlines in December 2007. The aircraft had served significant stints at Jet Airways and its subsidiary, Jet Konnect, before joining Buddha Air in 2019.

After passengers requiring special assistance were seated, we were finally permitted to board the aircraft at 13.03. At the door, I was greeted by a member of the cabin crew who checked my boarding pass. Having said that, ‘greeted’ might have been an overstatement as she merely grunted and motioned me to board after seeing that I was on the right flight.

Buddha Air ATR 72-500 Cabin

Buddha Air ATR 72-500s seat anywhere between 68 to 72 passengers, in a standard, single cabin 2-2 configuration. This specific example features 68 seats, maintaining a cabin that was inherited from Jet Airways. At the very least, Jet Airways’ leather upholstery has been replaced with a purplish-blue cloth in the five years the aircraft has operated for Buddha Air.

On this flight, I was seated in 15D, the right-hand side window seat located behind the wing and towards the rear of the aircraft. Thanks to the way ATR aircraft are configured, however, this seat is actually on the fifth row if you consider its distance from the entrance door. Regardless, these rear seats and those upfront are superior to those in the middle, as you don’t feel the continuous vibration of the loud turboprop engines.

As I settled down in my seat, I was surprised to see that the legroom was excellent, particularly for a regional turboprop. This, of course, makes sense, after considering that our plane has four fewer seats than the typical ATR 72. Standing at 180 cm (5’11) there was over 15 cm (6 inches) of space between my knees and the seat back.

While my tray table was broken, storage at the seat wasn’t too shabby. On top of a seatback pocket, there was a separate literature cubby. Furthermore, I was impressed that Buddha Air has an in-flight magazine, which complements the airsickness bag and the safety card in the literature pocket. Finally, I’ll also add that the cabin is equipped with overhead air vents, as well as individual reading lights.

Lavatory

Buddha Air ATR 72s are equipped with a single lavatory located next to the galley, in the rear of the cabin. Being the first flight of the day for this aircraft, I wasn’t surprised to find that the lavatory was dry and relatively clean. Dettol-branded hand wash liquid is provided next to the sink. While the lavatory is dark and has a bit of a lingering smell to it, it certainly beats the restrooms you’d find in the Domestic Terminal!

Departure from Kathmandu

The boarding door was finally closed at 13.14, about 10 minutes after boarding had commenced. With all seats occupied, the lead cabin crew came into the intercom to announce the details of our flight. At this time, we started moving and taxied down to the runway, passing by many interesting planes in the process. Surprisingly, there was no safety demonstration of any kind. Hmm…

Soon enough, the International Terminal came into view, where a line of Airbus A320-200s was parked. Apart from the Himalaya Airlines and Nepal Airlines jets, we also caught sight of Thai Airways’ daily daytime departure as well.

As we rolled down the taxiway, we even passed by an Air China A319-100, which had just arrived from Chengdu. At 13.22, we finally reached Runway 02 from which we took off. After spending six hours at Tribhuvan International Airport, I was certainly excited to finally fly to Lumbini!

Inflight

About 10 minutes after takeoff, the captain sounded a ding, notifying the crew that we had reached our cruising altitude. However, I’ll point out that the seatbelt sign stayed on and we weren’t permitted to leave our seats. Considering the flight’s very short flight time of 20 minutes, it is no surprise to see the lack of an inflight service of any kind. In any case, I mostly kept myself distracted with the great views of mountainous Nepal out the window.

Arrival in Bhairahawa

After about 20 minutes in the air, the captain sounded a ding, signalling our descent and approach to Bhairahawa. Sure enough, the flaps were soon extended for landing as we pierced through the thick fog blanketing the town. Before long, the town of Siddharthanagar (Bhairahawa) was finally visible.

We had a rough landing on Runway 28 at 13.54, over five hours after our initial scheduled departure time. Having passed by the gleaming new international terminal, we gingerly taxied our final parking position across the dilapidated domestic terminal. By this time, the Yeti Air flight had completed its turnaround and was making its way back to Kathmandu.

As we came to a stop, everyone leapt out of their seats in a rush to get off the plane. Soon enough, the exit doors were opened and we were disembarked through a ramp. Welcome to Lumbini, I guess!

Verdict

In all, I was quite happy with my first Buddha Air experience. While I acknowledge that a rolling five-hour delay was anything but pleasant, this was no fault of the airline. Furthermore, I do appreciate the airline’s efforts to be transparent, especially by equipping its gate area with live-feed monitors to show weather at destination airports. Despite the unfriendly crew, I had an uneventful and pleasantly mediocre flight. Let me emphasise that ‘uneventful’ is the keyword and that was what mattered most to me when booking this domestic sector. All things considered, I’d happily take Buddha Air again, considering its better reputation in the country.

Read more from this trip here!