Astha Basnet, executive officer at Buddha Air, tells CNN Travel that the confusion was due to two factors: “communication failures and failure to follow detailed standard operating procedures (SOP).”
In simpler terms, it was just confusion.
Due to weather conditions, many Nepalese airports open later in the day in winter. Because of that shortened window, it is not uncommon for multiple flights to depart in a short period of time, and apparently this led to confusion.
But despite the surprise passengers must have received when they arrived at the wrong airport, the situation reportedly went relatively smoothly. Once Buddha Air figured out what had happened, they had the pilots take the passengers to Janakpur as planned. There are no direct flights between Pokhara and Janakpur, so the airline was given special permission to fly there.
The 69 passengers on board – 66 adults and three children – reached Janakpur safely, albeit a few hours behind schedule. There were no mechanical problems with the plane itself.
Buddha Air is a Nepal-based airline that was founded in 1996 and started operations the following year.
Basnet confirms that the airline’s crew will receive additional training after the flight change and that the airline has updated its existing flight manuals.
Passengers found out that something was up when they looked out the window – and at their Google Maps apps.