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From pioneering air travel with Buddha Air to championing agriculture with initiatives like Arju Rice Mills, Mr. Birendra Bahadur Basnet embodies dedication to Nepal’s development. A first-generation entrepreneur, he established Buddha Air to address Nepal’s unique transportation needs, navigating early challenges to build a trusted airline that gives passengers a sense of air safety and reliability. Now, he’s applying the same drive to agriculture, aiming to support farmers and reduce dependency on imports. In this interview, we delve into Mr. Basnet’s guiding principles, his aspirations for Buddha Air, and his broader contributions to Nepal’s economy and community well-being.
Introduction
You are committed to Buddha Air and lately you have also diverted to Agriculture. How would you like the people to see you as an airline executive or a farmer’s friend?
That’s a pretty intense question. I personally think that people need to look at me for what I have done and what my life philosophies are, rather than what have I been successful in. What I have delivered is instrumental and I feel that what I have contributed should be the judgment area. I believe I should be able to deliver things even after I exit the aviation sector or the Arju rice mills.
Leading Air Travel
What inspired you to establish Buddha Air, and what were the early challenges?
The answer to it isn’t much hyped, the decision to start Buddha Air in 1996 wasn’t driven by an elaborate dream but rather by necessity. I am a first generation entrepreneur or an industrialist in that aviation is an industry. Coming from a background where we needed to secure financial stability for our family, Buddha Air was a means of creating a sustainable livelihood.
What has been your approach to maintaining Buddha Air’s reputation as Nepal’s leading airline?
We have an upcoming memoir of Buddha Air named “By the Book” or “Niyam Sammat”, which is slated for book launch on December 30th, that speaks a lot about what we have done in Buddha Air. It is about 250- 300 pages long and it gives the minute details about how we created a success at Buddha air and it focuses on what we have done in Buddha Air. It is something I would recommend for Business management students, current and future entrepreneurs.
Vision and Leadership
What principles guide your leadership and vision?
I again would like to reiterate that I have mentioned it in the upcoming memoir. Integrity and running things By the Book have always been my cornerstones. You are actually running things actually in the way it is supposed to run. Everyone knows how things are supposed to run but few people stick to it, I actually stick to it. To lead effectively, I believe it’s essential to think out of the box while remaining grounded in the core principles. You need to be totally focused in what you are doing. My approach is about seeing beyond what’s immediately visible, much like the concept of a ‘Black Swan’—anticipating what might go wrong and proactively addressing potential risks. For example, after the 9/11 tragedy, reinforced cockpit doors became standard, since paper cutters were used by hijackers to barge into the sensitive cockpit area through the flimsy doors of the era. It’s about being prepared, about foreseeing and addressing the vulnerabilities before they become major issues.
What are your long-term goals for Buddha Air?
I envision Buddha Air expanding to meet Nepal’s growing demand for air travel, especially as road infrastructure faces limitations due to challenging terrain and weather. With global warming and environmental changes, the reliability of highways is uncertain, but aviation can provide a dependable alternative. Buddha Air is also exploring new opportunities and continually looking to expand our fleet based on demand, all while maintaining our standards of safety and operational excellence. We have massive demands for air travel for almost 4-5 months every year. We are the only nation in the world where the government controls domestic airfare, and the government sets an upper boundary that we cannot overshoot. Nepal normally operates its airlines below that limit.
Quality of Operations
How do you ensure Buddha Air maintains high standards of customer service?
Customer service is deeply intertwined with our safety standards. We emphasize rigorous maintenance according to manufacturers’ requirements, which directly impacts safety. Rigorous maintenance automatically ensures operations safety and thereby technical failures are avoided. Nepal’s operational environment requires extreme precision and care. We are continuously working on our monitoring systems, investing in advanced software to track pilot performance, and providing specialized training to ensure every flight meets our high standards. The beta version of our software is starting from November first and it will go into full effect by January next year. Our goal is to create the safest and most comfortable experience for every passenger.
How do you keep employees motivated and satisfied within the organization?
Our employees receive competitive compensation and benefits because their well-being directly contributes to the company’s success. They should be treated in the most humane way, and they deserve respect, empathy and humility. But it’s not just about financial rewards; it’s about fostering a sense of belonging and respect. We encourage open communication, discourage nepotism, and participatory management. I believe that each employee should feel a sense of ownership, as if Buddha Air were their own company. That is the major reason for our success.
ATR Retirement and Safety
How does Buddha Air’s recent retirement of an ATR aircraft resonate with you and the broader aviation community?
Retiring our first ATR aircraft is a significant milestone, not only for Buddha Air but also the nation, as this is the first ATR to be retired in the world. We are at par or even better than many ATR operators globally in that we have completed the full economic lifecycle of the ATR. We are retiring two more in the coming year and others also in the upcoming years. You hear a lot about Nepali aviation being unsafe, but we are here to say it with pride that we fall among the 99th percentile when it comes to running the aviation industry in the best possible way. Deeds speak better than words right. It’s a testament to our commitment to meticulous maintenance and effective operational practices, which have allowed us to use these aircraft for their full economic lifecycle. This achievement highlights that Nepalese aviation can meet, and even exceed, international standards in terms of safety and efficiency.”
How does the retirement of your aircraft contribute to broader safety and operational quality?
ATRs have been in operation for 30-35 years and this is the case of first ATR retirement. Retiring our ATR aircraft is a mark of Buddha Air’s commitment to stringent safety protocols and sustainable operations. Throughout the aircraft’s life, we adhered to an exceptionally meticulous maintenance schedule, often exceeding recommended standards. We have flown our aircrafts as per the books and even made more stringent protocols for ensuring the safety of our operations.
For instance, most of the ATRs shut off one engine during the taxi after landing as per the engine manufacturers instructions, but we do the taxi with both the engines in active mode. We set this protocol and learnt that doing this actually helped improve the life of the engines. We avoided using the ‘hotel mode’ setting for engines, which many airlines employ to save fuel but ultimately degrades engine health. Decisions like these, which we’ve rigorously maintained, have allowed us to maximize the lifespan and safety of our fleet.”
Beyond airlines
What role do CSR initiatives, like Arju Rice Mills, play in your work and vision?
“For me, Arju Rice Mills is not a business venture, it’s a campaign. The embarrassing thing is that we are an agricultural country, our staple diet is rice, 60% of our arable land is used for cultivating paddy and yet we are importing paddy and rice around 50 billions annually. I thought that we needed to change it. The problem was that the farmers weren’t getting an appropriate price for their paddy. They incurred losses despite growing paddy. Last 2 and half years we have been going through ups and downs for the mill since this is our trial and error phase. The result of success is we making profit from the rice mills after paying a satisfactory price to the paddy farmers. Last year when we operated at 20-25% capacity, we made a profit of 15 million from the mills. Yeah for now depreciation is at 30 million but then we intend running the mill at 75-80% capacity this year and making this initiative a success. Arju Rice Mills, for example, has transformed lives in its region by creating jobs and boosting the local economy.
In one of your interviews, you have mentioned of Nepal turning into a ghost nation. What do you think needs to be done to ensure that Nepal does not turn into a ghost nation?
The Nepali people who are aware and have the capacity need to be more proactive on how the nation is run. Rather than just talking about politics, doctrine and ideology. Now we need to run companies and manage them to start giving results. We do not need more politics, but we need to start having deliverables. The bottomline is that there are lots of people in Nepal who are capable, who are aware and have immense love for the nation, they should not be fence sitters, they should rather come forward and work proactively. We are a small nation, we just need to change our thought process. The conventional indicators of Bangladesh was fantastic with their per capita shooting to 2700 with new industries coming up, but amidst all these 400 people died, I personally think this is because of the disparity of distribution of wealth among the people there. The wealth disparity in India can be even worse with over 500 plus billionaires making much of the money. The biggest strength for Nepal is the decentralization and the strengthening of the local government, which is the biggest delivery of the constitution. So the community is to rise through increased community enterprises, community participation and involvement, getting the youths involved. More qualified and people with integrity should come forward as leaders, the rule of law should prevail, rather than unethical politics. The rule of law should handle the cases where people have been proven guilty.
Are you, individually or as a team, contributing to halt the exodus of the Nepalese diaspora?
Yes, we are actively engaged in this mission, I believe Nepal is to boost its economy through tourism. We are planning for homegrown transcontinental flights. Nothing is impossible. We have the capability to do it and we look forward to doing it. We ought to see how it unfolds. Buddha Air has a big role to play in Nepal’s economic and social development, and we’re fully committed to this.
Despite the emphasis on prevention in healthcare, people often wait until they need treatment. How does that approach work in aviation? Are you more preventive or treatment-seeking when it comes to your own health?
In aviation, prevention is everything. We can’t afford to wait until issues arise. According to Dr Saroj Dhital, 70 percent of health is prevention based and 30 percent is curative or treatment based. The hospitals should focus on managing that 30 percent which presents as various illnesses and the local government should proactively work and develop programs on the preventive model of healthcare. Personally, I believe in the same preventive philosophy. I focus on regular health check-ups and staying physically active because prevention is far better than treatment. Just like in aviation, a preventive mindset toward health is key to a longer, healthier life. I personally give 1 hour a day on a regular basis to maintain my health.
Conclusion
What do you see as the key challenges and opportunities for Buddha Air in the next decade?
We sort out challenges as they emerge. The highways upgradation could be a turning point, but as with the latest rainfall and the devastation by the flood, we feel that we still need to upgrade and add more aircrafts to our fleet for times when we lose our road connectivity. We might be looking at 6 months of heavy revenue and 6 months of slack. This is an opportunity, it is not just the wealth we need to earn, we now need to serve the nation. It’s a dream to start transcontinental flights in another 2 to 3 years. But it is not that big a dream as it was when we were trying to start Buddha Air back in 1996 which was an even bigger dream, now it is just trying to spread my wings further. The tourism industry has in a way hit the ceiling, the only way to break the glass ceiling in Nepal’s economy could be starting the Transcontinental flights I just mentioned. With our commitment to Nepal, we see this as an opportunity to expand our reach, build even stronger connections across the world.
How has Nepal’s aviation industry evolved since you started Buddha Air?
You will have to wait and read the memoir “By the Book” once it is out on December 30th. The evolution of Buddha Air from Day 1 is being printed for now in Nepali and hopefully we will bring it out in the English language too based on the feedback. The guys have done a massive research, well the memoir is an autobiography, but all I have done is talked and the team has worked diligently to turn it into a tangible book.
With dedicated research and Mr. Basnet’s personal reflections woven together, “By the Book” will undoubtedly provide readers a fascinating narrative about Nepal’s skies and the man who helped shape them.
