Bhutan Airlines, the country’s first private airline, launched its inaugural flight to Kathmandu on Saturday and the regular schedule will be operated from June 16 with two weekly flights (Monday and Thursday).

The Paro-Kathmandu sector will be operated by an Airbus A319 with 122 seating capacity, 8 seats in business class, 36 in premium economy and 78 seats in economy class.

“We will be operating daily flights from September onwards. Five flights will be operated on Paro-Kathmandu-Paro and two flights on Paro-Kathmandu-Delhi-Paro,” said Wangchuk Dorji, chairman of Bhutan Airlines.

He said the carrier will add a third aircraft on its international fleet by August. “We will be adding more routes after our third aircraft arrives,” he said. “The airline would introduce surprisingly competitive fares in the market and enhance the air travel connectivity between Nepal and Bhutan, especially the European tourist seeking Bhutan extension.”

Bhutan Airlines started its international fights on October 2013 with an A320 aircraft with 150 passenger seating capacity from Paro to Bangkok and began operating to Kolkata sector on December 2013. Society Travel is the official representative and GSA for Bhutan Airlines in Nepal.