Review of Buddha Air flight from Kathmandu to Varanasi in Economy

Namaste & Hello 🙏

Today we are flying from Kathmandu,Nepal🇳🇵 to Varanasi,India🇮🇳 with Buddha Air which is considered to be Nepal's best airline and given my experience with them from VNS - KTM,I can admit that Buddha Air is indeed a very good airline and Im certainly looking forward to this flight.One thing that is guaranteed though are great views of the himalayas and It certainly is the MOST SCENIC FLIGHT in the world.

Welcome to Tribhuvan International Airport,Kathmandu,Nepal this is the biggest airport of Nepal and make sure to reach in time as there are long ques for documents verification before you are allowed to enter in the main terminal building.Thankfully we were staying just about a few Kilometers from the airport so we reached within 5 minutes drive.

As I entered the departures terminal I checked on the screen to see the check in counter for Buddha Air and its counters were right at the end of the terminal.At present Buddha Air only flies to Varanasi as its only international destination however,there are reports that they may soon start flights to Kolkata.Tribhuvan International Airport is as it is as I had seen it when I first visited back in 2012 as a kid and the aesthetic woodwork with a mix of bricks certainly gives it a vintage feel which is rare in today's world.

Those of you who have gone through my previous flight report (U4162 VNS - KTM) would remember the hand written boarding passes that were issued in Varanasi however,Its autoamtic and more modern branded boarding passes that we got at Kathmandu which is great for my collection and I hope they soon get it automated at VNS as well.

Also Buddha Air puts these beautiful looking  hand baggage  tags which has an image of a Buddha Air ATR aircraft and if you are an Avgeek like me these are treasured Items and I have kept them all in my aviation collection box.I also like the back side of the boarding passes as it brands its international flights to VNS,which is a high yeilding flight as its usually filled with westerners and tourists from all walks of life and since the discontinuation of Indian Airlines flight back in 2007 or 08 this is the only flight that connects these two tourist hot spots.

After getting our boarding passes we prompty got through the immigration which has special counters for Indians/Nepalis and rest for other foreigners just like how it is in India and thats due to special relationship between the two countries and its age old ties so Immigration was done within 2 minutes and the security check wan't too time consuming either and overall a smooth experience at KTM. 

We will be boarding from GATE 1 and its a shuttle boarding at KTM for all flights for there are no aerobridges at the moment.As we waited for boarding I got some great shots of the airside veiws surrounded by majestic Himalayas and photos may be beautiful but I cant stress enough how amazing it actually looks when you see these scenes from your own eyes.Im always excited to fly into and out of Nepal because as I said earlier one thing you are guaranteed on your trip to Nepal are SCENIC VIEWS and they are everywhere.I was just eagerly waiting to board the flight and capture the MOST SCENIC TAKEOFF in the world and I would highly recommend everyone to watch the video version of this flight report just because its truly beautiful scenes.

There is Buddha Air's hangar right there in the second pic above and I believe its the only airline in Nepal that has its own Hangar.Soon the announcement for boarding was made and we boarded the shuttle for our flight.Our aircraft today is over 14 years old ATR 72-500 (VT-AJL) and we have about 20 passengers on board today our flight No is U4 161 and the estimaded duration is 1 hour.

The boarding was complete within no time and we pushed back right on time to taxi for departure at RWY 02 or KTM and we didnt really backtracked the entire runway just took off right after exiting the taxiway midrunway and thats when the beauty and uniqueness of this flight comes to play as we took off we could spot the famous UNESCO world heritage site BOUDHANATH STOUPA which we couldnt visit this time but Im surely going there on my next visit.

Soon we turned left towards the famous Chandragiri hills where I did visit this time and I could literally see the cable car cables and BHALESHWAR MAHADEV temple at the top which you all would see too its very clear and the scenes are just beyond what words here could describe.I will let the photos do the talking. 

As we ascended to our cruising altitude of 16000 FT over the majestic himalayas the cabin crew began its inflight services which included a complimentary snack box similar to what we got on our flight from VNS to KTM and the contents were same too and equally fresh and delicious.It comprised of a cheese sandwich+mango juice+salted peanuts.Good refreshments for a 1 hour flight and as you can see its freshly packed meal so no wonder it tasted so fresh and good.

Soon we left the himalayas behind and were flying over the cloudy plains of my home state of U.P (UTTAR PRADESH) and its a pretty normal  weather for its the monsoon season in the region.The descent was a little turbulent but rest everything was pretty usual as it is during descent.

We landed on RWY 09 of VNS right on time and a very smooth touchdown by Captain Ishan who was flying this morning.We were greeted with warmth as we deboarded the aircraft and I took a few shots of our aircraft thanking it for the smooth flight.I hope you all enjoyes this flight today and I hope to see you soon on another beautiful flight.Thank you for flying with me. 

Namaste 🙏