Buddha Air

Buddha Air Pvt. Ltd (Nepali: बुद्ध एयर) is an airline based in Lalitpur, Nepal. It operates domestic flights within Nepal as well as international services to Varanasi and Kolkata in India, from its main base in Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. It was the largest domestic carrier in terms of passengers carried in 2023. It is currently on the list of airlines banned in the European Union like all other airlines in Nepal.

The airline was established on 23 April 1996 as a private limited company by Surendra Bahadur Basnet, a retired Supreme Court judge and former government minister; and his son, Birendra Bahadur Basnet. The name of the airline is derived from the Sanskrit word Buddha, a title used for the much revered Siddhartha Gautama. Operations commenced on 11 October 1997 with a sightseeing flight to Mount Everest using a brand new Beechcraft 1900D. In 2001, the airline partnered with the Bhutanese flag carrier Drukair to charter flights during the peak tourist season. Within ten years, the company had expanded to a fleet of seven 1900Ds. In 2008, a loan from the International Finance Corporation allowed the company to expand further by purchasing two ATR 42 aircraft. Buddha Air took delivery of its first 72-seat ATR 72 in June 2010.

Buddha Air became the first international airline to operate charter flights to Paro Airport in Bhutan in August 2010.

In 2011, Buddha Air began international flights from Pokhara Airport to Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, India; however, these flights were discontinued soon after.

Kolkata – Buddha Air first launched the Kathmandu–Kolkata route on 27 May 2019, operating three weekly flights between Tribhuvan International Airport and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata with a flight duration of about 1 hour 30 minutes. The service was later suspended in December 2019 amid low demand and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airline resumed direct flights to Kolkata on 19 October 2025 after a six-year gap, initially operating three weekly return services (Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays) with ATR-72 turboprop aircraft. The flight time is approximately 1 hour 35 minutes, and this reinstatement reconnects Kathmandu and Kolkata as part of Buddha Air’s international network.

Buddha Air flies to the following destinations as of August 2024.

Buddha Air also operates scheduled mountain sightseeing flights from Kathmandu to Mount Everest range and from Pokhara to the Annapurna Massif. The flights usually depart in the early morning hours and return to the respective airports one hour later.