KATHMANDU: Jazeera Airlines will be the first airlines company to make the debut international flight to the newly opened Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa.
The airport came into operation on Thursday. Jazeera Air will fly a narrow-body aircraft with a capacity of 278 passengers from Kuwait to Bhairahawa on the day of Buddha Jayanti on May 16, according to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
It will return the next day with passengers from Nepal to Kuwait. The airlines will then fly regularly to Bhairahawa three days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
General Manager of the international airport, Govinda Dahal, said for now the international flights are scheduled for the night to manage the air traffic congestion caused due to a single runway.
Director General of CAAN Pradip Adhikari said that the landing at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa is expected to be smooth as there is a 3,500-meter long runway that can accommodate five international flights at a time.
Air traffic at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu is expected to decrease with the operation of the new international airport in Bhairahawa