POKHARA, Dec 21: Pokhara International Airport will be officially operational from January 1. As a part of the preparation for the same, the private sector airlines, ATR-72 aircrafts belonging to Buddha Air and Yeti Airlines landed at Pokhara International Airport for the first time on Thursday.
During the demonstration flights, the aircrafts belonging to two private sector airlines landed and took off from the airport. This has fulfilled a four-decade-long dream of landing a ship at Pokhara International Airport.
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The airline companies said they will start preparations for commercial flights after Thursday's demonstration flight. Aircraft were landed from both sides (east and west) of the international airport runway.
Both airlines conducted demonstration flights with ATR-72 aircrafts. They flew from Pokhara's current airport and reached the international airport and landed the planes. During that time, the ATR-72 aircraft flew from Pokhara's current airport to the international airport. These aircrafts carry 70 to 72 passengers.
Passengers onboard the aircrafts conducting the demonstration flights were local tourism entrepreneurs, the mayor of Pokhara metropolis and officials of the aviation sector.