Who does not know this moment when you board a plane on the way to a destination for any purpose, whether it is a vacation or a family visit or any other reason? The anticipation of arrival is one of the most fun feelings there is – even if you feel it less during the corona period.
Passengers of the Nepalese airline “Buddha Air” felt exactly like that, but upon landing, they discovered to their amazement that they had not reached the destination they had planned to reach at all – but somewhere else, about 400 kilometers from the original destination.
Last week, 69 passengers boarded a company plane departing from Tribahvan International Airport, which is close to the capital Kathmandu, in the north of the country, instead of flying south to Jankpur. Asta Basent, the airline’s CEO, told the American news network CNN that the confusion was caused by two factors: “Short communication and failure to follow the operating instructions.” In other words: there was confusion here.
Due to the weather conditions, many airports in Nepal open at a relatively late hour because of the winter. Due to the short time window, it is quite common for many flights to depart at short notice, and in this case – this was probably the cause of confusion.
Despite the mistake in the final destination, it turns out that the passengers received it quite casually. As soon as Buddha Air found out about what had happened, they took out a flight that took the passengers to the destination they were originally supposed to reach, a few hours late. Although there are no direct flights between Pokhara and Jankpur, this flight has received special permission to fly between the destinations.