Buddha Air Bids Farewell to ATR 42 Aircraft After 16 Years of Service

Buddha Air has officially retired its ATR 42 (Nine N-AIN) aircraft, marking the end of its 16 years of service. The farewell ceremony took place at Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday, where the aircraft was given a ‘water salute’ by Buddha Air employees.

The ATR 42, which began its commercial journey on September 17, 2008, with a mountain flight, completed 70,000 flight cycles before being retired and placed in the hangar. Of these, 40,000 cycles were flown within Nepal alone. With a seating capacity of 47, the aircraft initially took to the skies on December 28, 1997, and was brought to Nepal by Buddha Air in September 2008 after being in service for 13 years.

Mangesh Thapa, Buddha Air’s Technical Director, shared that despite the initial lack of experience in ATR maintenance in Nepal, the aircraft provided invaluable lessons and contributed significantly to the airline’s operations. He explained that aircraft are typically retired in two ways: either due to financial unviability for the operator or upon completing their flight cycles as dictated by the manufacturer.

Throughout its service, the ATR 42 Nine N-AIN transported 1.8 million passengers, achieving 40,000 takeoffs and landings in Nepali skies. Each takeoff and landing counted as one flight cycle. Buddha Air highlighted that Nine N-AIN is the first aircraft produced by the ATR manufacturer to be retired after reaching the milestone of 70,000 full-time flight cycles.