Nepal may be in the throes of unrest but Calcutta is set to resume its direct connection with the Himalayan capital next month.
Come October 2 and Buddha Air, which has the biggest domestic passenger share in Nepal, will take off from Kathmandu at 7am Nepal time to land in Calcutta in an hour and 45 minutes. The return flight from Calcutta is scheduled at 9.35am.
“Buddha Air is getting the final approval from the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation). The situation back home is expected to improve shortly, may be within this week. They will start services in October,” said Jhakka Prasad Acharya, the consul general of Nepal in Calcutta.
The consulate general of Nepal, however, has cancelled the National Day reception on September 20 for which invitations had gone out a fortnight ago. The event was supposed to mark the Constitution Day of Nepal, September 19, which commemorates the adoption of the Constitution of Nepal in 2015, which established the country as a federal democratic republic. “It is a critical situation, so what to do?” said Acharya, while confirming the news of the cancellation to The Telegraph.
He advised Indian visitors to “wait for some time before making their plans as the situation is not so good in Nepal and the border areas”. Indians do not need a visa to travel to Nepal.
The last direct Calcutta connection was an Air India flight, which was stopped on October 1 when maintenance work at the Tribhuban International Airport reduced operation timings from round the clock to 12 hours.
Rupesh Joshi, marketing director of Buddha Air, is bullish about the Calcutta market. “Starting October 2, we will operate four weekly flights — on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays,” he messaged this correspondent from Kathmandu.
The Calcutta-Kathmandu route, he pointed out, “is very important for us as it connects two countries rich in culture and religion, making travel much easier compared to long journeys by road”. Other than taking a flight via Delhi, where Royal Nepal Airlines operates, Calcutta tourists had the option of flying to Bagdogra and cross the border by road to reach Bhadrapur in an hour and take another flight to Kathmandu.
“Currently, there are no direct flights on this sector, so restarting it will greatly benefit travellers,” Joshi said.
Buddha Air had previously operated flights between Kathmandu and Calcutta in 2019, but they were later discontinued. “Since no direct flights were available, we applied to resume this route a couple of months ago,” he said. The carrier currently operates three weekly flights to Varanasi.
The company, Acharya pointed out, was supposed to start Calcutta operations on September 1. But the paperwork as well as securing the permits from the DGCA for the flight schedule took some time. Joshi said the slight delay worked in their favour as they can now wait out the period of uncertainty.
“But domestic and international flights have continued operating despite the recent unrest. Such situations have occurred before, and Nepal has always recovered quickly. Resuming KTM-CCU flights at this time will provide travellers with a reliable and convenient option to move between the two countries regardless of temporary challenges,” the marketing director said.
Both Acharya and Joshi expressed confidence about a quick return to normalcy. “We remain optimistic about welcoming Diwali travellers from Calcutta and also expect steady tourism flows between both countries beyond the festive season,” Joshi said. Booking is expected to start by Sunday, a city official of the airline said.
However, professionals in the travel and tourism segment feel the initial outbound passenger load can only be from the trading sector. “It will take time for Indian tourists to gather confidence. The wound is fresh. The assurance has to come from their government about safety and security. For that, the government has to be in place there,” said Manav Soni, chairman, Tourism Council, Travel Agents Association of India, while pointing to the possibility of inbound traffic for work and medical treatment in India.