Namaste and Hello everyone 🙏
Today we are flying a very special flight as this is not just my first time flying with Buddha Air, an airline I have longed wish to fly but also it happens to be my very first international flight on board my favourite aircraft ATR to one of my favourite countries to fly to,beautiful Nepal 🇳🇵
My journey begins from Varanasi International Airport (VNS) which serves one of the oldest cities in the world and a spiritual hub for millions of people across the world.Varanasi is home to the sacred Kashi Vishwanath Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and also home to the buddhist sacred site of Sarnath where Lord Buddha gave his first sermon.
Though I have been to Nepal a few times before but this time it was specifically for pilgrimage with ny mom to the Pashupatinaath Temple,Hindu temple and a UNESCO world heritage site dedicated to Lord Shiva and the very reason why Buddha Air flies between VNS and KTM is because these two ancient cities share this unique cultural and spiritual bond which also makes them both sister cities.
Varanasi International Airport as of 2025 has only two international flights one is Buddha Air that connects VNS to Kathmandu,Nepal🇳🇵 and Air India Express that connects it to Sharjah,UAE🇦🇪.The airport has four Immigration desks at the departure hall and especially for this flight it was pretty quick as this flight had about 50 passengers of which many of them western tourists and some Indian/Nepali people with familial ties so visiting families or friends or flying for religious purposes.
For Indian citizens,we dont need a Visa to enter Nepal and same for Nepalese citizens as due to the treaty of friendship and ancient ties between the two nations our people have lived and worked across the two countries for ever and thats why for Indians either a Passport or a Voter's ID card is an acceptable document to enter Nepal and for Nepalese citizens they either need a Passport or a citizenship certificate.Though I prefer Passport as it helps to get Nepalese stamp everytime you enter and exit which I personally prefer
Intrestingly Buddha air gives hand written boarding passes which was a new for me so I have kept these boarding passes as a souvenir but I do hope they move to automatic ones.Also Buddha Air doesnt have seat selection process nor web check in so you basically have to request for the preferred seat at check in counter.
Our aircraft today is an ATR 72-500 registered (9N-AMF) which is one of 19 ATRs owned by Buddha Air.It arrived as U4161 from KTM to VNS and it will operate as U4162 from VNS to KTM.The boarding was on time with one of the crew member greeting all the passengers with Namaste 🙏 which is the greeting of Nepal and Northern India and I headed to my seat 10A and 10B was alloted to my mom though we requested the crew for a window seat if available and we were told that she would offer it once the boarding is complete and thankfully my mom was given 14A and seat 11A was vacant too so I occupied it too because it had a litttle better window alignment.
The flying time of this flight is estimated to be about 1 hour and 5 minutes and we will be cruising at an altitude of 15000 FT.We takeoff from RWY 09 and within no time we flew over the low ceiling monsoon clouds and into the blue skies enroute KTM.
As we ascended to our cruising altitude the cabin crew began the inflight services that included a free snack box and complimentary water service.The snack box includes a cheese sandwich with a tomato ketchup packet along with a mango juice tetra pack with a Buddha Air branded salted cashew packet.
Talking about the taste of the entire refreshements then I have to admit I wasn't expecting it to be good but it exceeded my expectations and the sandwich especially was yum, so much so that I requested the crew for another one and they happily obliged and I got another snack box.
As an Avgeek its always a treat to fly to the beautiful Himalayan nation of Nepal as its home to some of the most scenic airports in the world and you truly understand the beauty of it when you first approach into Kathmandu's Tribhuvan international Airport (KTM) with the view of beautiful snow capped mountains of the himalayan ranges and some of the highest peaks right outside the aircraft window.
No words of photos would ever do justice to exactly how it feels when you see the grandeour of the Himalayan ranges but the best I could do is share the photos and videos of my experience but I'd certainly recommend everyone to visit Nepal to experience the gorgeousness of this place.
Buddha Air along with few other Nepali airlines offer what is called a "Mountain Flight" which takes you on an aerial tour of the highest peaks in Nepal including the mighty Mount Everest and its a highly popular flight and a must to do.
After about 40 minutes we started our descent into KTM and flew over the beautiful himalayan mountains surrounding the Kathmandu valley with some really amazing scenery and soon we landed at RWY 02 and swiftly exited the runway to park at the international tarmac area of the Tribhuvan Intl Airport.
We arrived on time and I absolutely loved this flight with Buddha Air and can't wait to fly them again.I hope you all enjoyed this flight report and the video version of it as well.Thank you for flying with me today and hope to see you soon on another flight.
