Drukair

Paro airport

Drukair is the national airline of the Kingdom of Bhutan, based in Paro and based on the Paro airport.

History

1968 opened the first airport in the valley of Paro in Bhutan. This was initially only for occasional flights of Indian helicopters until between 1978 and 1980 various smaller aircraft were tested, which possessed good maneuverability and can cope with the flight to Calcutta and back without refueling should. The airline itself was established by a royal proclamation on April 5, 1981. The name Druk means dragon in the national language Dzongkha. On 14 January 1983 made ​​the first of two 18- seater Dornier Do 228-200 of the airline at Paro airport, which was of 40 monks welcomed and blessed. Scheduled flights to Calcutta and from there to Dhaka was taken on February 11, 1983. From November 1988 Aircraft type BAe 146-100 were used, while also addressing the flight operations between New Delhi, Bangkok and Kathmandu could be included. The first commercial flight with an Airbus A319 -100 took place on 31 October 2004. Mid- February 2012 ordered Druk Air, as part of the Singapore Airshow, a third Airbus A319 Manufacturer Airbus. This is already different from the other two copies of the airline, have called Sharklets and expand the route network, among other things towards Hong Kong.

Destinations

Druk Air flies with as of June 2010 from Paro to Bagdogra, Bangkok, New Delhi, Dhaka, Gaya, Kathmandu and Calcutta.

Fleet

As of July 2013, the fleet of aircraft consists of four Drukair with an average age of 8.8 years:

• 3 Airbus A319 -100
• 1 ATR 42-500