Kolkata, April 18: The ongoing Lok Sabha elections has delayed the launch of Nepal's private airlines Buddha Air's proposed flight between Kolkata and Kathmandu by over a month. The airline will now begin its operation from May 27 instead of its earlier plan to start from April 16, Buddha Air's Marketing Director Rupesh Joshi said. "We will operate three weekly flights between Kathmandu and Kolkata on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from May 27," he said. Jet Airways Crisis: Bollywood Celebs Stand in Solidarity With Airlines and its Laid-Off Employees - Read Tweets.

"Both the India government and all agencies involved with aviation business suggested to begin the service post election. So we decided to defer it," he said. Buddha Air would be the second Nepali Airline to connect Kolkata with Kathmandu after the Royal Nepal Airlines' withdrawal from Kolkata two decades back, Joshi said. The Royal Nepal Airlines now operates flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to Kathmandu, he said. Air India Keen on Taking 5 Grounded Jet Airways Boeings 777 Planes.

Joshi said grounding of Jet Airways will affect tourism in Nepal and a large number of booking for hotels and tour operators have been cancelled. He said Jet was the key airline to bring foreign tourists to the Himalayan country. Now, return fare from Indian destinations from Nepal had soared four times the normal rate owing to grounding of the Jet Airways.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)