Buddha Air, the country’s leading private carrier, has completed 25 years of its operation.

Tuesday marks the silver jubilee of the opening of its services.

Buddha Air flies to 15 national and international destinations with 16 aircraft.

It aims to become the largest ATR operator in Asia in the near future.

“Although the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to shut down for eight months, we regained full momentum in a short period of time,” said Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of Buddha Air, speaking at a programme in Kathmandu on Monday.

Buddha Air has a 56 percent passenger market share.

“With the increasing trust of our valued customers, we are witnessing sustained growth in our revenue,” he said.

The airline, which started with an initial investment of Rs50 million, has now become a Rs7 billion company, according to the company’s press statement.

The carrier said its projected revenue for the fiscal year 2021-22 ended mid-July 2022 is Rs9 billion.

“We made a direct tax contribution of Rs52.6 million to the government. The indirect tax amounted to Rs669.56 million,” said the company.

The company provides employment to 1,454 people.

The carrier has 127 pilots, 120 flight attendants, 51 corporate staff and others in 14 different departments.

According to the company, it invested a total of $588,384 for technical training and $248,263 for non-technical training in its manpower in the fiscal year 2021-22.

“Buddha Air’s aircraft are the most eco-sustainable, fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly,” said Basnet. The carrier said that in the fiscal year 2020-21, it decreased the carbon emission to 0.2299 kg per passenger per mile.

Currently, Buddha Air is flying to Surkhet, Dhangadhi, Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Bhairahawa, Bharatpur, Simara, Janakpurdham, Rajbiraj, Biratnagar, Bhadrapur and Tumlingtar including one in Varanasi, India.

It has also been conducting mountain view flights from Pokhara and Everest experience flights from Kathmandu.

Buddha Air started its flight service with Beechcraft 1900D on October 11, 1997.

Since the operating day, the company has flown over 18.13 million domestic passengers and over 1.59 million foreigners, of which, 440,810 made the mountain view flights.