Refuelling convenience and faster access to a futuristic urban oasis bordering Assam are factors behind the “fly east” outlook of the Royal Bhutan Airlines via Guwahati.
Drukair, the Himalayan kingdom’s national flag carrier, announced the commencement of its thrice-a-week flight between Paro and Singapore with a stopover at Guwahati’s Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport on Friday. It also announced the reintroduction of the Paro-Guwahati-Bangkok flight, started a decade ago, twice a week.
Aircraft “load penalty” at Paro International Airport, about 50 km from the capital Thimphu, and the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a spiritualism-meets-business special administrative region thrice the size of Singapore, are among the key drivers of this flight service.
“Air connectivity between Bhutan and Assam is meaningful for us because of geography and cultural relations, but flying to and from Guwahati also makes commercial sense because of the load penalty at Paro and India’s push for rail and upgraded road links with Gelephu,” Tandi Wangchuk, Drukair’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), told The Hindu in Guwahati.
Paro Airport limits passenger capacity due to its short runway, surrounding mountains, and an altitude of 7,300 feet above sea level, which reduces the aerodynamic lift generated by the wings and decreases the efficiency of jet engines.
