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Bhutan Drukair |
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Bhutan Information |
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Drukair - Bhutan's National Carrier
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| 26
June 2008 |
| Paro
airport expansion proposal |
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| Paro
airport could see separate arrival and departure terminal buildings, a
broadened runway, modern landing lights, bigger maintenance area, and separate
access roads, according to a new proposal plan.
"Our
airport is reaching close to its capacity and this plan will ensure that
we can handle the increasing number of visitors to our country up to 2030,"
said the deputy director of civil aviation, Karma Wangchuk. By 2030 there
could be around a million annual visitors on the higher level and around
half of that at a medium level, according to a DCA growth scenario. |
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"Even
in the next five years, our tourism sector is targetting an additional
100,000 tourists, which will need more infrastructure," said Karma Wangchuk.
The
plan has been divided in terms of priority and size into short term, medium
term and long term. In the short term, the arrival hall will see some offices
giving space to a broader arrival hall with an additional conveyor belt.
Turn pads will also be built on the runway to allow planes to turn around
naturally without having to rotate on their front wheels. "This rotation
shortens the life of the tyres and also damages the tarmac," said Karma
Wangchuk.
New
lights will also be installed along the runway, allowing pilots to better
gauge the altitude while landing. Work on relocating the RBA and Indian
Air force quarters to a more suitable location near the airport will also
start, along with river protection works, according to civil aviation officials.
"The
medium term plan will consist of shutting down the present road to the
airport and opening up a separate route along the river," said Karma Wangchuk.
He also said that there would be new parking spaces, a new maintenance
area, and relocation of the cargo terminal.
The
long-term plan will be building a new terminal building, which will mean
that the current terminal will be for departures while the new terminal
will be for arrivals. The new terminal will also house the arrival and
departure section for domestic flights within the country. "Both terminals
will be connected allowing tourists and visitors to even take interconnecting
flights and avoid other formalities," said Karma Wangchuk. The runway will
be significantly widened on either side, which will meet Airbus airplane
specifications, and separate parking areas will be designated for the two
terminals. The apron will also be extended, allowing more parking area
for more planes.
| By
Tenzing Lamsang, KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper 2008 |
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top
| 20
June 2008 |
| Druk
Air cuts flights due to fuel hike |
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Druk
Air, the national airline, has temporarily slashed its flight frequency
on several routes to deal with the 25 percent average hike for the year
2007-08 in aviation turbine fuel prices and the lean tourist season.
Flights
to Bangkok have been reduced to six from eight flights a week, with the
Friday flight via Kolkata and the Saturday flight via Dhaka gone to the
chopping block.
The
four flights a week on five routes from
Paro to Dhaka, Delhi, Gaya, Katmandu and Kolkata, have been cut by a flight
each.
It
is also timely for the national airline as passenger numbers drop in July,
August and September, the lean season for tourists visiting Bhutan
| Source:
KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper 2008 |
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top
| 26
May 2008 |
| Druk
Air: International arrivals |
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The
number of international arrivals reached 21,094
in 2007, marking an increase of about
21.6 percent over 2006. The projection of arrivals for 2008 is expected
to increase to 25,000 according to TCB.
| Source:
KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper 2008 |
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on board
a Drukair flight: Kangchenzonga
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top
| 29
March 2008 |
| Flying
against the wind |
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Paro-Kathmandu-Delhi
flights are exposed to strong seasonal wind conditions during morning time
within the March to mid-May flight season. It was found that pilots had
difficulty in controlling the aircraft while in the air and also while
landing due to strong winds. During winters and mid-summer, the wind
is stable.
Pilots
also say that, even if the ground wind conditions are normal, they will
have to contend with high speed jet stream winds at high altitudes common
in the spring season.
Most
Drukair flights are landing in Paro by 5 pm when there's usually no wind.
Druk
Air is in the process of trying to modify it's new flight schedules. This
will mean making major or minor changes to 30 flights from March till 15
May 2008 of which 24 are for the Delhi - KTM - Paro (and back) sector and
six for Paro - Kolkata - Bangkok (and back). A request for changes on the
Delhi-Paro sector was recently sent to the Director General of Civil Aviation
in Delhi.
The
twin Drukair A319 planes has around 27,000 pounds (12,247 kg or kp =
120,145 N) of power to deal with at Paro Airport, as compared to A-320,
a bigger aircraft, which has only has 22,500 pounds (10,206 kg or kp =
100,121 N).
| Source:
KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper 2008 |
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on board
a Drukair flight: Makalu
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Paro
International Airport
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