Yatra Magazine April 2010 | Buddha Air

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No. 19 April 2010

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n a major turn in its history, Buddha Air is posed to launch international flights. The airline will first operate flights from Nepal to four destinations – Lucknow, Kalkata and Patna of India and Paro of Bhutan. This is the first time the airline is launching international flights since it came into operation in 1997. The flights are expected to begin from August, 2010.

In fact, Buddha Air had planned to operate flights from Pokhara to Lucknow and Gorakhpur and from Janakpur to Patna. However the plan had to be postponed to a later date because the return flights via Simara takes an additional 30 minutes causing passengers to pay Rs 2000 to 3000 extra. The airline put off the plan also because of the delay in the construction of airport infrastructure at Janakpur and Pokhara. These airports currently lack night landing facilities.

Buddha poised to launch int'l flights That’s the reason why Buddha Air decided to operate flights from the Tribhuvan International Airport to these Indian destinations. Buddha Air flights from Kathmandu to Paro will begin immediately, while flights to Lucknow, Kalkata and Patna will be launched from July-end of this year.

This however doesn’t mean that we are cancelling our plans to operate flights from Nepali regional airports.

In fact we plan to link Nepal’s regional cities to various Indian cities. We

will do that once these technical difficulties are corrected. The airline took the decision taking into account the concept of federal Nepal. It will attract a large number of Indian tourists to Nepal’s cities outside the Kathmandu Valley, and boost the local economies. The influx of large number of tourists outside the valley will bring about multiplier positive effects in the economies of the federal units, besides giving a boost to the cash-strapped national economy. continue on page 2

NEPAL

BHUTAN

Kathmandu

Paro

Lucknow UTTAR PRADESH

INDIA

BIHAR

Patana

Kolkatta

WESTBENGAL

I n t e r n a t i o n a l ...continued from page 1 As per the agreement signed between Nepal and India, Nepali airlines are allowed to operate flights to various 26 destinations. Buddha Air plans to operate flights in most of these destinations on the basis of market viability.

We highly appreciate the efforts of Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Sarad Singh Bhandari and Secretary at the ministry Nagendra Prasad Ghimire in taking initiatives for striking the deal, which enabled private sectors to operate cross-border flights to and from so many regional airports. We value his vision very highly. His vision will be instrumental in turning the mid-term goal of Buddha Air into a success. That agreement has made it possibe for Buddha Air to begin international flights.

f l i g h t

Buddha Air to operate ATR 72

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n a move to expand its services, Buddha Air is introducing ATR 72 aircraft from August. The ATR 72 is a twin-turboprop shorthaul regional airliner built by French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR. It seats up to 70 passengers in a singleclass configuration and is operated by a twopilot crew.

The ATR Company is leasing out the aircraft to Buddha Air. The new aircraft will be used for domestic as well as international flights. Buddha Air is shortly launching international flights from Nepal to various cities of India and Bhutan.

After the airplane comes into operation, the Biratnagar-Kathmandu airfare is expected to go down considerably due to the aircraft’s low operating cost. The

existing fare will be assessed and new one will be set after the aircraft comes into operation. Buddha Air already has three ATR 42s being operated from Kathmandu to various cities of Nepal.

The ATR planes are safe and environment-friendly and are considered best for flights in Nepal where weather is capricious and airports are difficult to land on.

Buddha hikes salary Buddha Air has hiked the salaries of its staffers by up to 30 percent. As per its official policy, Buddha Air reviews the salaries of its employees every two years. The decision was taken with the active participation and negotiation of the representatives of Buddha Air employees’ union.

The decision to hike the salary will be effective from January, 2010. While taking the decision, various factors

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including the inflation and the rising needs of the employees were taken into account.

The airline has always given high priority to the needs of the employees. It is widely held that Buddha Air is one of the few Nepali organizations where the satisfaction level of the employees is very high. The employees’ union has also been actively negotiating with the management for the interests of the employees after it was formed last year.

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Hanger with state-ofart technology under construction In yet significant step, Buddha Air is constructing its hanger on the premises of the Tribhuvan International Airport. The new hanger with state-of-art technology will be constructed within four or five months. The airline has already paid for the materials to be imported from India. This is the first time that a Nepali private airline is building a hanger of international standards. After that, the operation and engineering departments of the airline will be shifted to the hanger area, which will expand over 25,000 sq ft.

The closed door hanger will be very important from the point of view of aircraft safety. The airplanes will no longer be parked under the open sky, which the airline is currently doing. And the shifting of the operation department within the area will enhance better coordination among the departments leading to the safety of the airplanes.

Now all the maintenance works will be carried out during night. This will increase the utilization of each aircraft by 15 days every year. The hanger will enhance the utilization of the Buddha Air planes by 105 days in total. The utilization of the resources at its maximum and the creation of new jobs will make contributions to the national economy as well.

The construction work of the hanger, which will cost Rs 100 million, will begin shortly.

BUDDHA

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January — March

New provision for frequent flyers The Royal Club (Frequent Flyer Program) of Buddha Air has amended the existing provision related to Platinum membership. As per the new provision introduced recently, members whose platinum status has already expired can now renew their membership if they have 7,000 mileage points in their current account.

The Club amended the provision so that the frequent flyers who have not been able to travel with Buddha Air (when the platinum membership was valid) due to various reasons would be connected to the airline again. Buddha Air took the decision to amend provision taking into account the feedback from the frequent flyers.

We expect more feedbacks from frequent flyers in the coming days so that we can serve you better. We will leave no stone unturned to improve our services and your feedback is important in this regard. This is the most popular frequent flyer program launched in Nepal. All we plan is to serve our passengers better. As there are always rooms for improvement, we expect more feedbacks from you to turn this program into a great success. We are committed to expand the facilities to our royal club members in the days ahead.

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The skyjack that shook Panchayat I

t was meticulously planned, and carefully executed.

As the Twin-Otter was flying over the Koshi River, five minutes after it took off from Biratnagar airport, a youthful passenger got up from his seat, went to the cockpit, grabbed the pilot by the scruff of his neck, pointed a gun at him and said, “This plane is being hijacked.”

It was June 10, 1973, when the pro-democracy fighters of Nepal shocked the world by hijacking the 19-seater plane underground Red Army and the collecting of ransom. “Let’s bound for Kathmandu. They forced the pilot to land in the hijack a plane,” Subedi volunteered. But GPK declined. suburbs of Forbesgunj, Bihar, and took away Rs 3 million in One day Subedi came to know that Madan Aryal, whose Indian currency belonging to the Nepal government before family was devoted to the democracy movement, worked at letting the plane return to Biratnagar. the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) branch office in Biratnagar. He The sensational news shook the Panchayat regime to its also knew that the bank would send wads of bank notes in roots, boosted the morale of democracy fighters and drew boxes to Kathmandu. The plane hijacking plan came to mind the attention of the world toward the then little-known tiny once again, and he discussed it with GPK. “Okay, I shall talk to Himalayan kingdom. The whole plan had been masterminded Sandaju (BP Koirala) about it,” GPK said. by none other than the late Nepali Congress (NC) leader Girija A dangerous thing it is. It may even cost lives,” BP argued.

Prasad Koirala (GPK), who was not only a wily politician but “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine,” replied an obstinate also had a swashbuckling streak.

GPK. With the Panchayat regime taking to repressive measures, It was known that NRB would import Indian currency most pro-democracy leaders, including charismatic NC leader notes from Attariya in India and bring them to Kathmandu via BP Koirala, were in self-exile in India. And there was little Biratnagar. In the beginning, they planned to loot the money hope of the restoration of democracy in Nepal any time soon. on its way to Biratnagar from Attariya. But the plan was later The NC revolutionaries planned to launch an armed struggle cancelled due to security reasons. They decided to go ahead but that needed lots of money, and the party with the hijack plan instead as it would also was reeling under a severe financial crisis. So draw the attention of the world. GPK took on Remembering GPK the first concern of the revolutionaries was to the responsibility of arranging for the weapons, collect money. while Subedi was to form a team of hijackers.

Many had their doubts: How could some young men who Nagendra Dhungel and Basanta Bhattarai agreed to join had never even flown in a plane carry out a hijack? Given the Subedi’s team. After some dithering, NRB employee Aryal finally lack of experience of the prospective hijackers, they were agreed to pass them information about the transport of money right in their argument, but wrong in underestimating GPK. He to Kathmandu, while his brother Binod Prasad Aryal, self-exiled surprised one and all by turning the plan into a grand success. in India for his involvement in the democracy movement, was It had been a couple of years after GPK was released from jail. And to take the money to safety in Darjeeling and Sikkim. he was becoming restless again. The party had decided to launch The plan was kept secret, and even most of the team an armed struggle against the Panchayat regime, and GPK had members did not know about the entire operation. GPK only been entrusted with the task of recruiting fighters and arranging told them that they were carrying out a historic task in the for their training and weapons. But he did not have the money. near future. The hijackers were just waiting for NRB to send Meanwhile, Durga Subedi, who was to be one of the hijackers, the notes to Kathmandu. They bought two tickets of Rs 175 was freed from a jail in Kathmandu. He went straight to each, but cancelled the tickets twice because they were not Forbesgunj where an NC party office was located. There he sure on which day NRB was sending the money. Finally, they met GPK, who told him about the problem the party was facing. received information that Rs three million was being flown to Suddenly, Subedi remembered a Reader’s Digest story he read Kathmandu on June 10, 1973 at 8.30 a.m., and Nepal Army while in jail. It was about the hijacking of a plane by Japan’s personnel were escorting the vehicles carrying the money to

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April — June

the airport.

Dilip Jung Thapa, executive manager of the NRB branch office in Biratnagar, suddenly had to go to Kathmandu on some nline “Sir, the army m/oticket. aair.aco emergency, :/ but he did notdh have plane http /www.bud personal will escort the vehicles to the airport here, and others in Kathmandu will take the money to its destination. So why not take the ticket of the security guard accompanying the money,” Madan Aryal opined. “Good idea,” Thapa replied.

The three hijackers had only two tickets. Subedi knew that cinema actors CP Lohani and Mala Sinha were also going to Kathmandu on the same plane. Subedi requested Lohani, “Brother, I have tuberculosis. I plan to go to Kathmandu tomorrow for treatment. But I don’t have a ticket. Please let me have yours.” Lohani agreed. Things were surprisingly turning in favor of the hijackers. They were now fully prepared for something they had never done before. “I could not sleep the whole night. I was restless,” says Basanta Bhattarai, who was then just 21 years old. “But as a member of the NC army, I had already signed a paper with my blood to sacrifice my life if need be,” he adds.

The hijackers were to land the plane on an isolated stretch of grass in Forbesgunj, which had been used as an airport by the British during World War II. There was a large cotton tree nearby. A red flag was placed atop the tree so that the hijackers could easily spot the place. Binod Aryal, Sushil Koirala, Manahari Baral and Biru Lama were deployed there.

Meanwhile, the rookie hijackers headed for Biratnagar airport by rickshaw. Subedi went inside the terminal, leaving Bhattarai and Dhungel at a rice mill in Bargachhi. He wanted to confirm that the money had been brought there. His eyes flashed at the site of the boxes and informed his buddies. The armed hijackers took advantage of the lax airport security and entered the terminal with no hassle. With their hearts pounding heavily, the three boarded the plane.

Within five minutes of takeoff, Bhattarai turned his pistol at the pilot, switched off the communication equipment and ordered him to fly the plane to Forbesgunj. But he was shocked to see the plane steward grabbing Subedi while the latter was pulling out his pistol. Luckily Dhungel had already turned his gun at the steward. Subedi then turned to the co-pilot. The hijackers now took the crew under control. When the pilot hesitated to fly the plane to Forbesgunj, they showed grenades and threatened to blow up the plane. But the plane had already flown far from the Koshi Barrage. The pilot said he would land somewhere in Birpur of Bihar as the plane would run out of fuel in an hour. But the hijackers declined.

Yatra Lucky Winners for Mountain Flight 1. Unish K.C. 2. Robin Sharma 3. Murari Raj Sharma

BUDDHA

Yatra

April — June

He was asked to divert the plane to the Koshi Barrage again and fly low along the Koshi canal heading southward.

Within minutes, Sultan Pond was seen, and they were close to the grassland. Everybody was happy except the crew and passengers who were in tears.

Aryal, Sushil Koirala, Manahari Bhattarai, Rajendra Dahal and Biru Lama were already there on the ground. At first they could not believe their own eyes as the plane prepared to land. Aryal took off his red t-shirt and waved it to signal that they were at the right place. The plane was about to land, but it nosed up again. After two or three minutes the plane reappeared and landed safely. The passengers were in panic.

Three boxes full of bank notes were taken out. The plane took off again immediately. Meanwhile, GPK’s vehicle, driven

by Ganesh Sharma, an Indian national sympathetic to the democracy cause in Nepal, also reached the spot. The boxes were loaded in three different vehicles and these zoomed off to Darjeeling. But most had no idea where the money was being taken. The hijackers went to Darjeeling, then to Banaras and then to Mumbai and occasionally made trips to Delhi to meet BP Koirala. “The next day of the hijacking we were in a train bound for Banaras, and we saw people reading newspapers with banner headlines on the hijacking.

We were so nervous that we could not even peek at what the people were reading,” recalls Bhattarai.

Then, there was a state of emergency in India under Indira Gandhi. The times were not appropriate for Nepali democrats. Within a year, all the hijackers, except Narendra Dhungel, were arrested one by one by the Indian government.

After the emergency was over, they were released on bail, and BP Koirala returned to Nepal “floating the idea of national reconciliation”. The hijackers also returned to Nepal just ahead of the referendum in 1980. “In retrospect I see that we made history,” recalls Bhattarai.

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R o y a l

c l ub

Royal Club Mileage Chart Effective from 17 September 2008

S.N.

SECTOR

1

GOLD

PLATINUM

AWARDS

NORMAL

APEX

B. FARE

NORMAL

APEX

B FARE

KTM-SIF

109

71

24

121

79

26

960

2

KTM-BHR

133

87

29

147

96

32

1160

3

KTM-JKR

161

105

35

177

116

39

1400

4

KTM-PKR

173

113

38

190

124

41

1500

5

KTM-BWA

230

150

50

253

165

55

2000

6

KTM-BIR

276

180

60

305

199

66

2400

7

KTM-BDP

288

188

63

316

206

69

2500

8

KTM-KEP

426

278

93

468

305

102

3700

9

KTM-MTN

460

300

100

506

330

110

4000

10

KTM-DHI

690

450

150

759

495

165

6000

gift VOUCHER Awards Chart Required Mileage Points for Gold Member

Required Mileage Points for Platinum Member

Amount in Rs.

1250 1875 3125 5000

1110 1665 2775 4445

1,000 1,500 2,500 4,000

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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BUDDHA

Yatra

April — June

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f r o m

c ap t ai n ' s

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Over

8,000 meter

High Mountains of the world Photo & Text : Captain A.G. Sherpa

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Capt. A.G. Sherpa

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Capt. A.G. Sherpa

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There are 14 over 8,000 meter high mountains in the world. Out of 14, eight of them are in Nepal. Except for 2nd highest K2 and the 9th highest Nanga Parbat, including the top of the world Mt. Everest almost all the top 10th of them are in Nepal.

S.N.

Mountain

(Range/Location) Heights (in mtrs/feet) First to summit

1.

Mt. Everest

Himalayas /Nepal

8,848m 29,028'

2.

8

K2 (Godwin Austin) Karakoram/Pakistan

8,611m 28,250'

Date Nationality

Sir Edmund Hillary/

New Zealand/

Tenzing Sherpa

May 29, 1953

Nepali

Achille Compagnoni/

Lino Lacedelli

July 31, 1954

Italian

3.

Kanchanjunga

Himalayas /Nepal

8,586m 28,169'

George Band/Joe Brown

May 25, 1955

British

4.

Lhotse

Himalayas/Nepal

8,516m 27,940'

5.

Makalu

Himalayas/Nepal

8,463m 27,766'

6.

Cho-Oyu

Himalayas/Nepal

8,201m 26,906'

7.

Dhaulagiri

Himalayas/Nepal

8,167m 26,795'

8.

Manaslu

Himalayas/Nepal

8,163m 26,781'

9.

Nanga Prabat

Himalayas/Pakistan

8,125m 26,660'

10.

Annapurna-I

Himalayas/Nepal

8,091m 26,545'

11.

Gasherbrum-I

Karakoram/Pakistan

8,068m 26,470'

12.

Broad Peak

Karakoram/Pakistan

8,047m 26,400'

13.

Gasherbrum-II

Karakoram/Pakistan

8,035m 26,360'

14.

Shisha Pangma

Himalayas/Tibet,China 8,013m 26,289'

BUDDHA

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April — June

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Capt. A.G. Sherpa

Capt. A.G. Sherpa Capt. A.G. Sherpa

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7

11

Capt. A.G. Sherpa

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6

Capt. A.G. Sherpa

Capt. A.G. Sherpa

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Capt. A.G. Sherpa

Capt. A.G. Sherpa

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14

Highest Peaks of the Continent Asia

Mt. Everest

Himalayas/Nepal

8,848 meter

29,028 Feet

2.

South America

Mt. Aconcagua

Andes/Argentina

6,960meter

22,834 Feet

3.

North America

Mt. Kinley

Alaska range/Alaska,USA

6,194 meter

20,320 Feet

4.

Africa

Mt. Kilimanjaro,

Tanzania

5,895 Meter

19,340 Feet

5.

Europe

Mt. Elbrus Kabardino

Balkaria Caucsus/Russia

5,642 meter

18,510 Feet

6.

Antarctica

Mt. Vinson Massif

Santinal Range/Antarctica

4,897 Meter

16,066 Feet

7.

Australia

Mt. Jaya(Carstensz pyramid)

Sudirman Range/New Ginea

4,884 Meter

16,024 Feet

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Capt. A.G. Sherpa

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e-mail: yatra@buddhaair.com

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No. 18 January 2010

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uddha Air came into service in 1997 with just two Beech aircrafts, and evolved into a leading airline of the country in just a decade. It is a remarkable feat achieved in the Nepalese private sector. With its committed management and skilled manpower, the airline has made a giant leap. It is one of the few success stories in the country’s private sector.

Now the airline has added three 48seater France-built ATRs to its fleet.

With the addition of these ATRs, the airline now has seven airplanes including four Beechcrafts.

On Oct. 11, Buddha Air celebrated its 12th anniversary at Hotel Raddision.

All the Buddha Air employees enthusiastically participated in the function. On the occasion, Buddha Air chairman Surendra Bahadur Basnet handed over letters of appreciation and plaques to 25 employees, who had completed 10 years of service at the airline, while other participants cheered and clapped.

He also handed over prizes to the winners of games organized just ahead of the anniversary celebration. The operation department had won the gold medal in basketball and football, and the Airport marketing had won the gold medal in volleyball. Likewise Captain AG Sherpa bagged

Celebrating 12th Anniversary the gold medal in bowling and Khagendra Bahadur Basnet of the Human Resources Department was the highest scorer.

Speaking at the function, chairman Basnet appreciated the roles played by the employees in taking the airline to a new high. He especially lauded

the roles of the operation department, which is successfully operating new airplanes – ATRs. He also took pride in the fact that Buddha Air is the only airline in Nepal to receive contd on page 3

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Responsible travel agents I appreciate the quality service and the bravo and other discounted tickets provided by Buddha Air, but would like to suggest that you sell tickets via more responsible travel agents. n Dr. Subash Bahadur Basnet, Pokhara-16

Serve tea/coffee I really don’t understand why Buddha Air serves Coke or cold water in the winter season. I would rather prefer tea or coffee. n Rajan Parajuli Banashthali, Kathmandu

Quality service Please keep up whatever facilities you are providing. Don’t cut them in the future. Also, it would be better if you can come up with some annual publications. n Dhirendra Lamsal, Kathmandu

Pick up & drop passengers Buddha Air is a good airline and is providing reliable services.

But it has expensive airfare.

So I would like to suggest that you reduce airfares. Also, we would appreciate if you pick up passengers and drop them. n Ramesh Pokharel, Kathmandu.

10

Best airline

Flights to remote zones

Good! Better than other domestic airlines in Nepal. Inform your passengers in time if the flights are delayed. Keep up whatever facilities you are providing. n Buddhi P. Adhikary, Nawalparasi

It would be better if you can operate flights to mountainous regions as well. It would be good from the perspective of tourism. n Lalit Kumar Dangol, Lalitpur

Snacks

Flights to Karnali zone

Services are good. It is good that you also provide the passengers with the newspapers.

It would be better if you serve the passengers with snacks. n Dhananjaya Paudel, Butwal

You should maintain flight schedules. I appreciate the flight safety measures you have taken.

I would like to suggest you that you operate flights to remote areas of Karnali region from Nepalgunj. n Rajendra Singh Nayak Nepalgunj Civil Aviation Office

Luggage handling You need to improve luggage handling. Second, include airport tax in the ticket itself. Third, information on flight delays becomes meaningless if you do so only after the passengers arrive at the airport. Fourth, offer snacks even if those travelling with bravo tickets have to purchase them. n Paratha Priya Ghosh New Delhi

Refreshment If your flight is delayed over an hour, arrange refreshment for passengers. Also, the “mileage tickets” must be issued from all the airline stations across the country. n Subin Kathmandu

Punctual Flights Buddha Air flights used to be very punctual in the past. But it is not the case nowadays. I always find the flights being delayed. So you should pay punctuality. n Gyan Raj Pandey, Kahthmandu *** For some time your flights have not been punctual. So you need to be punctual. Second, you should inform the passengers about the places they are they are over. Third, you need to serve the passengers with peanuts or some foodstuffs. n Dr Prem Bahadur Thapa *** During winter season, flight schedules should be maintained in such a way that you don't need to postpone or delay the flights due to bad weather. “Time is moving” not only for companies but also for passengers.

Huma Bokkhim, Kathmandu *** Inform the passengers in time about flight delays. It would be better if you serve passengers with snacks. n Dr Umesh Dahal, Kathmandu

BUDDHA

Yatra

April — June