Himal Press 
SURKHET: Buddh Air has started flying ATR-72 aircraft in the Kathmandu-Surkhet sector.
The leading domestic carrrier had operated a test flight at Surkhet Airport using the 72-seater aircraft last month. “As the test flight was successful, the company has been allowed to fly a bigger aircraft to Surkhet,” said Jagannath Niraula, the spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
Altogether 70 passengers, including officials of CAAN, were onboard the ATR-72’s inaugural flight to Surkhet on Friday, said Dipendra Kumar Karna, the information officer of Buddha Air.
According to Karna, Buddha Air will operate a daily flight in the sector using ATR-72 aircraft. Before the runway of Surkhet Airport was extended, the airline was flying one flight a day using ATR-42 aircraft.
Niraula said flight operation by a bigger aircraft will also reduce flight fares.
Buddha Air first started flying to Surkhet on February 1, 2013, using 18-seater Beechcraft 1900D aircraft. It had been flying ATR-42 aircraft in the Kathmandu-Surkhet sector for the past five years.
