The Buddhist Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is at once mysterious and reputed; its steep mountains and valleys hide monasteries and fortresses, like the so-called “Tiger’s Nest”, clinging to cliffs above the forested Paro Valley. And, aside the trekking, to get there, visitors must brave one of the world’s trickiest airport landing strips.
Jumbo jets cannot fly there due to two mountains of over 5000 metres that stand sentinel on either side of a short runway. In fact, not all pilots can fly there. Bhutan’s Paro International Airport (PBH) “is difficult”, according to Captain Chimi Dorji, who spoke to CNN Travel about his 25 years working at the kingdom’s flag carrier, Druk Air (aka Royal Bhutan Airlines).
“It is challenging on the skill of the pilot,” he said, “but it’s not dangerous, because if it were dangerous, I wouldn’t be flying.”
No radar, just local knowledge
Pilots need to go through specialised proficiency training to qualify to fly to Paro, a category C airport, like Innsbruck in Austria, where short-runways demand skilled navigation via technical landing schemes. There’s no radar that can help with the descent and touchdown, so pilots need to know the area’s geography by heart, and night time flights are forbidden.
“In Paro, you really need to have the local skills and local knowledge area competence. We call it area competence training or area training or route training from flying from anywhere into Paro,” Dorji says.
Only a handful pilots are allowed to land at Bhutan Airport due to difficult terrain and conditions. It’s considered to be one of the most challenging runways on earth to fly in, if you watch the video, you’ll find out why. #Bhutan pic.twitter.com/uknHwieyuZ
— Josh Cahill (@gotravelyourway) December 15, 2024
Thin air and monsoons
Adding to the complication, higher elevations have thinner air meaning the aircraft “has to fly through the air faster”. And what’s more, strong wind conditions at Paro mean all incoming flights need to make it there before midday to avoid the churn of thermals from the warm ground. Departing flights thankfully do not suffer the same issue.
Factor in monsoon season, in June and August, when winds from China whip across the Bay of Bengal and funnel days of heavy rain, thunderstorms and monstrous hailstones into Bhutan. Part of becoming a Paro-capable pilot is not just knowing how to fly between what Dorji called “obstacles” (aka gigantic mountains) but also when not to even attempt the journey.
Bhutan will welcome its second international airport in Gelephu by 2029
All this means Bhutan only has around 50 pilots able to fly into Paro, but, like the mountain air, the country’s aviation sector is shifting. A new airport planned for Gelephu in the south will be able to welcome bigger aircraft thanks to its flatter, subtropical terrain. If enough pilots can be found and trained for the seasonal changes, that opens up the possibility of long-haul flights from Europe, the Middle East and North America bringing more visitors to one of south Asia’s most enigmatic destinations.
