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Bhutan Drukair |
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Bhutan Information |
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| February 2014 |
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Two weekly flights to Mumbai from May 1 |
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The state of the runway poses a safety risk; Batpalathang (Bumthang) may be next
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| India's commercial capital will be the sixth Indian city on the national airline's network
Drukair: Drukair will commence scheduled flights to the entertainment capital of India, Mumbai, from May 1, making it the sixth city in India that the national airline will add to its network.
Drukair will fly to Mumbai twice a week. The airline is yet to work out if the flights will be direct or routed through Kathmandu, Nepal. |
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While exact figures could not be obtained, the airfare is expected to be slightly higher than flying to New Delhi.
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The airline had initially planned on connecting Mumbai from last year, but lack of flight slots prevented it from occurring.
Drukair CEO, Tandin Jamso, said, with the opening of a second terminal at Mumbai's international airport, new flight' slots had finally opened. He pointed out that the airline's partnering with Make My Trip, an online travel agency, that saw a number of charter flights to Mumbai, had gone well. |
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The Indian market continues to grow and the number of Indian tourists visiting Bhutan is also increasing, he said, as a factor on connecting the city.
While Drukair has been flying to New Delhi, Tandin Jamso said the western and southern India markets were untapped. He said Mumbai would provide an opportunity for Drukair to explore these markets.
Local travel operators' feedback also provided impetus to connect Mumbai. Tandin Jamso said European tourists visiting Bhutan usually also flew to Mumbai to tour southern India first, and then connected to Paro via New Delhi. With Drukair flying to Mumbai, these tourists could now fly directly to Bhutan, he said.
Like Singapore in the east, Mumbai will provide an alternative airport in the airline's western sector.
With the current political scenario in Bangkok, Thailand, Tandin Jamso said Singapore has been serving as an additional gateway for tourists.
Drukair is currently in discussion with the civil aviation authority in Nepal, to conduct the flights to Mumbai via Kathmandu. He said the Nepalese and Bhutanese market is a good tour package combination for Indian tourists.
He said if the talks work out, Drukair would fly on a code sharing arrangement with Nepal Air. This will allow the two airlines to collaborate on the route instead of competing, explained Tandin Jamso.
With the addition of Mumbai, Drukair will now be flying to 10 cities in five countries
| Source: Gyalsten K Dorji, Bhutan's National Newspaper 2014 |
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| February 2014 |
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2013: Drukair saw increase in passenger numbers |
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The national airline Drukair also saw a subsequent increase in USD-fare-paying passengers in both its international and domestic sectors last year, with tourist arrivals increasing by about ten percent last year.
On the international sector, Drukair carried a total of 207,697 passengers last year, of which 104,346 were local passengers and 103,351 were USD-fare-paying passengers.
This is an increase of about 20 percent or 14,292 more passengers (local and USD fare paying) from the previous year.In 2012, Drukair carried a total of 193,405 passengers of which 97,195 comprised local passengers, and 96,210 paid the USD fare.
Last year, the total revenue generated through ticket sales for both domestic and international sectors stood at Nu 2.8B against Nu 2.2B the previous year.
However, Drukair officials said the revenue for 2013 is yet to be audited and could be subject to change.A breakup on what nationalities purchased the tickets could not be provided by Drukair.
On the domestic sector, a majority of passengers were tourists, records with the airline show.Of 2,725 passengers Drukair carried last year, 620 comprised local passengers while 2,105 paid in USD, generating revenue of about Nu 24M.
Compared to the previous year, this represents a significant increase.In 2012, the airline flew 870 passengers on the domestic sector, of which 340 were local passengers and 530 USD payees.A total revenue of Nu 7.3M was generated that year.
A Drukair official attributed the comparatively smaller earnings in 2012 to domestic flight operations having to be suspended for a couple of months due to the closure of airports for maintenance in 2012.
Last year, 116,224 international and regional tourists visited the country, which is an increase of about 10 percent, or 10,810 tourists more, from the previous year.
The launching of domestic air service in December 2011 came as huge relief for the tourism industry, especially at a time when the focus was more towards promotion of tourist in the eastern circuit.
Tour operators said, compared to 2012, domestic flight operations saw some improvement. However, issues, such as reliability and consistency of the flights, still persist, said one.
Lack of infrastructural development to cater to tourists, bad road condition, and the long journey to the east are the main obstacles in promoting the east as a tourist destination.
Tourism, being concentrated mostly in the west, tour operators said the domestic air service helped them showcase the eastern circuit with a new dimension.
However, the suspension of flights to Yonphula since last year was another issue, with tourists complaining about the distance of journey, and the deteriorating road condition towards the east.
Currently, Drukair operates a 48-seater ATR aircraft once a week to Bumthang. It's been about two years since the introduction of domestic flights, but the tourism industry is yet to benefit from its services, a tour operator said.
Tour operators said, as they have to plan tours much ahead, reliability and consistency of flights affected them a lot. We're still not confident to put the journey by air in our travel itineraries, a tour operator said, adding, if there was improvement, the domestic air services will benefit all tourism stakeholders.
Tour operators also charter domestic flights during peak season.
| Source: Kinga Dema and Gyalsten K Dorji, Bhutan's National Newspaper 2014 |
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