<p>Domestic airline Buddha Air, which went international last year with flights to Bhutan, Friday launches its inaugural flight to Lucknow, the main city in Uttar Pradesh.<br /><br />"We are starting with a 47-seater aircraft but will switch over to a bigger one once it catches on," Buddha's marketing manager Rupesh Joshi told IANS. "By March, we hope to start flights to Kolkata."<br /><br />The 15-year-old airline, with an asset of $30 million and covering nine destinations in Nepal, will be initially running three flights a week to Lucknow in the evening - Wednesday, Friday, Sunday - with a return flight at night.<br /><br />The inaugural flight with five passengers from Kathmandu, however, will return packed with 44 from Lucknow.<br /><br />Joshi said the Indian authorities had given permission to run flights to four Indian cities - Lucknow, Kolkata, Varanasi and Patna.<br /><br />Though Buddha was initially scheduled to begin the India flights last year, the plan had to be postponed as the Indian go-ahead came only in November.<br /><br />The airline also plans direct flights between Lucknow and Pokhara, a prime tourist destination in Nepal.<br /><br />The fare for now is Rs.3,500 one way, excluding the airport tax.<br />With the Lucknow flight, Buddha becomes the only private Nepali airline to fly to India. <br />Nepal's national carrier Nepal Airlines operates flights to New Delhi but suffers from the reputation of being unreliable due to shortage of aircraft, maintenance problems and allegations of corruption.<br />Budget airline Cosmic Air, which had started flights to Delhi and Kolkata and triggered a price war in 2005, closed down due to a funds crunch.</p>
<p>Domestic airline Buddha Air, which went international last year with flights to Bhutan, Friday launches its inaugural flight to Lucknow, the main city in Uttar Pradesh.<br /><br />"We are starting with a 47-seater aircraft but will switch over to a bigger one once it catches on," Buddha's marketing manager Rupesh Joshi told IANS. "By March, we hope to start flights to Kolkata."<br /><br />The 15-year-old airline, with an asset of $30 million and covering nine destinations in Nepal, will be initially running three flights a week to Lucknow in the evening - Wednesday, Friday, Sunday - with a return flight at night.<br /><br />The inaugural flight with five passengers from Kathmandu, however, will return packed with 44 from Lucknow.<br /><br />Joshi said the Indian authorities had given permission to run flights to four Indian cities - Lucknow, Kolkata, Varanasi and Patna.<br /><br />Though Buddha was initially scheduled to begin the India flights last year, the plan had to be postponed as the Indian go-ahead came only in November.<br /><br />The airline also plans direct flights between Lucknow and Pokhara, a prime tourist destination in Nepal.<br /><br />The fare for now is Rs.3,500 one way, excluding the airport tax.<br />With the Lucknow flight, Buddha becomes the only private Nepali airline to fly to India. <br />Nepal's national carrier Nepal Airlines operates flights to New Delhi but suffers from the reputation of being unreliable due to shortage of aircraft, maintenance problems and allegations of corruption.<br />Budget airline Cosmic Air, which had started flights to Delhi and Kolkata and triggered a price war in 2005, closed down due to a funds crunch.</p>