Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways plans to expand its network in Nepal later this month, opening a new service to Gautam Buddha International Airport (BWA) in Bhairahawa.

Flights will start on May 16, operating three times per week from Kuwait International (KWI) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Bhairahawa is located approximately 270 km west of the capital Kathmandu, close to the country’s borders with India. The city is located on the Terai plains and home to about 70,000 people.

The LCC said the launch of KWI-BWA has been spurred by high demand for travel from Nepalese expatriates living in the Middle East and Europe to southwestern Nepal.

As well as catering for VFR demand, the route is also expected to attract leisure and religious traffic. Bhairahawa is the gateway to Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha in 623 BC.

“Jazeera Airways continues to expand its network to offer destinations that also cater to large expatriate communities that are often not served by direct and connecting routes from Kuwait and the Middle East,” Jazeera CEO Rohit Ramachandran said.

Jazeera began serving Nepal in November 2019, offering flights to Kathmandu (KTM). The route from Kuwait currently operates daily using Airbus A320neos.

The latest planned launch comes after the airline last month announced plans to begin new services to Prague (PRG) and Vienna (VIE). Flights to Vienna begin on June 2, followed by Prague on June 5. Both will be served 2X-weekly using A320s.

Data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser shows Jazeera intends to fly to 45 destinations from Kuwait during the peak summer 2022 season, offering about 94,500 weekly seats across its network. This compares with 25 destinations and 67,000 weekly seats during the same period in 2019.

In April, Jazeera posted a record Q1 net profit of KD3.8 million ($12.4 million), compared to a net loss of KD5.2 million in the corresponding quarter last year. In the first three months of 2019, before the start of COVID-19 crisis, the LCC reported a net profit of KD1.5 million.