text: druk air drukair corporation limited ( dzongkha : ་ ་ ་ ་ ། , wylie : ' mkha ' ' las ' ) , operating as drukair — royal bhutan airlines , is the national airline of the kingdom of bhutan , headquartered in the western dzongkhag of paro . founded in 1981 , ten years after druk gyalpo jigme dorji wangchuck gradually began to open up the kingdom from self - imposed isolation , and seven years after welcoming its first foreign visitors , the airline commenced operations in 1983 with flights from calcutta to paro utilising dornier do 228 aircraft . a switch to bae 146 - 100 equipment occurred in november 1988 , and in order to meet increased demand , those aircraft were replaced in 2004 with two airbus . drukair operates a modest scheduled flight network within the south asian region from its base at paro airport and currently consists of ten destinations in five countries . history in 1968 , the indian border roads organisation built an airstrip in the paro valley , which was initially utilised for on call helicopter operations by the indian armed forces for the royal government of bhutan . after consideration by king jigme singye wangchuck and the , drukair was established by royal charter on 5 april 1981 , ten years after the druk gyalpo , king jigme dorji wangchuck gradually began to open up the kingdom from self - imposed isolation , and seven years after welcoming its first foreign visitors . paro airport is located deep in a valley 2 , 235 metres ( 7 , 333 ft ) above sea level , and is surrounded by mountains as high as 4 , 900 metres ( 16 , 100 ft ) . at the time , the runway was 1 , 200 metres ( 3 , 900 ft ) in length , giving the bhutanese government specific requirements for a choice of aircraft to be operated . they required an 18 – 20 seat stol - capable aircraft with operating capabilities which included a high service ceiling , high rate of climb and high manoeuvrability . the major requirement for the aircraft was that it must be capable of flying kolkata – paro – kolkata , a 1 , 200 kilometres ( 750 mi ) round - trip flight , without refuelling , due to minimal infrastructure being available at paro for this purpose . three different aircraft types were considered after flight tests in india and bhutan between 1978 and 1980 ; however , none was deemed suitable . in mid - 1981 , the indian government set up a committee to study its own requirements for a light transport aircraft . based upon this competition , the bhutanese government ordered one dornier 228 - 200 for delivery in january 1983 , with the option for a second aircraft for delivery in late 1983 . the first 18 - seat dornier 228 - 200 landed at paro airport on 14 january 1983 , the exact time of landing , the number of passengers on board and even the direction the aircraft was parked on the airport apron being predetermined by the high lama of paro dzong . the airline inaugurated scheduled revenue flights on 11 february 1983 , with flight 101 departing paro for kolkata and returning the next day as flight 102 . for the first four weeks the flight was operated three times a week , after which it was increased to a daily flight . at the time of service commencement , paro airport consisted of the runway , a two - room air traffic control building ( with the ground floor acting as the check - in counter ) and a departure lounge on the lawn . prior to the establishment of the department of civil aviation in january 1986 , the airline was responsible for the operation and maintenance of airport infrastructure . the airline commenced flights to dhaka in bangladesh on 30 october 1986 . jet era on 30 december 1987 , a us $ 25 million order was placed with british aerospace for a bae 146 - 100 stol regional jet . the purchase of the aircraft was financed by the government , obtaining , for the first time in the country 's history , a commercial loan . in 1988 , the airlines ' operational base was shifted from kolkata to paro airport and the airline also hired its first seven flight attendants who were trained by thai airways international . on 21 november 1988 , the bae 146 was delivered to paro airport . with the introduction of the bae 146 , drukair was able to widen its network to link paro with delhi on 26 november 1988 , bangkok on 28 january 1989 and kathmandu in april 1989 . in the first full year of operational service with the bae 146 , the airline achieved an average load factor of 50 – 60 percent , more than the 40 percent which was expected , carrying 12 , 732 passengers over the 1989 – 1990 period . in 1990 , the runway at paro airport was lengthened from 1 , 400 metres ( 4 , 600 ft ) to 2 , 000 metres ( 6 , 600 ft ) and reinforced for heavier aircraft . a hangar was also constructed for the aircraft , which was funded by the indian government as part of the paro airport development project . the airlines ' only aircraft was requisitioned by king jigme singye on 9 november 1990 , in order to allow the king and his party to travel to tokyo for the coronation of akihito as emperor of japan . from japan , the king then travelled to in the maldives for the south asian association for regional cooperation summit between 21 – 23 november , and returned to bhutan in order for the aircraft to re - enter service with the airline on 25 november . due to a requirement stipulated by the bhutanese government that all foreign tourists , with the exception of indian nationals , enter and leave bhutan by air , the country 's tourism industry was brought to a halt , which saw the airline paying hefty penalties to disgruntled tour operators . this problem was somewhat alleviated when a second bae 146 entered service in 1992 , and on 11 november 1993 , the airline introduced a 10 executive class on the aircraft . on 13 may 1991 , drukair was registered under the companies act of bhutan . service to yangon , the capital of myanmar , began on 6 january 1997 . during 2000 – 2001 , drukair could operate with only one single aircraft for over a year due to a corrosion defect in its a5 - aircraft in the wing tanks that was detected during a check at woodford . the wings were replaced . in 2002 , an was wet - leased from to cover for maintenance to a5 - . drukair became the launch customer for the avro rjx - 85 in april 2000 when it placed an order with bae systems for two aircraft , with deliveries initially scheduled to take place in november 2001 and january 2002 . delays in the first flight and certification of the rjx pushed back expected delivery to drukair to after april 2002 . bae systems cancelled the rjx program in november 2002 , due to receiving orders from only two airlines , drukair and british european . with british european threatening legal action to enforce their contract with bae systems , the aircraft manufacturer offered to fulfil the contract for drukair , although airline management decided against acquiring the aircraft , citing potential problems with sourcing spare parts for the aircraft in future . in order to find a replacement for the 2 bae , drukair management fielded submissions from airbus , boeing and embraer to determine their products ' suitability to meet drukair 's stringent operational requirements . bombardier was also invited by management to demonstrate the regional jet , however , the airline was advised by bombardier the aircraft would be unsuited for operations at paro . in february 2002 , the airbus a319 became the largest aircraft to ever land at paro airport , when airbus demonstrated the aircraft to the airline . by october , boeing had withdrawn from the competition due to not being able to source an aircraft to demonstrate to the airline . with the embraer e - 190 yet to fly , it was expected that drukair would order the a319 . however , the government had concerns regarding financing for the purchase , and in october the final decision was delayed . after a short period of time , the government instructed management to begin evaluations once again , and a boeing 737 – 700 conducted eleven test flights at paro airport in february 2003 , in which it was demonstrated it met the requirements of the airline for operation into paro . airbus signed a memorandum of understanding with drukair in july 2003 for two 114 - seat airbus a319 - 115 , powered by two cfm56 - 5b engines , for delivery in the second half of 2004 . the purchase of the two jets , valued at 3 , 534 . 36 million bhutanese ( btn ) , was the biggest single purchase ever made by bhutan , and was largely responsible for a 250 percent increase in the bhutanese trade deficit over the previous year for the financial year 2004 – 2005 . the bhutanese government issued btn 1 , 767 . 18 million in government bonds to pay for one aircraft and for only the second time in bhutan 's history intended to seek a commercial loan for the other aircraft . however , in october 2004 it announced it would instead seek a soft loan for this purpose . on 11 november 2003 , the king 's birthday , drukair initiated services to gaya , india . bodh gaya , 10 kilometres ( 6 mi ) from gaya , is the site of the temple where gautama , the buddha , reached enlightenment , and 30 , 000 – 40 , 000 bhutanese make the pilgrimage every year . pilgrims have previously made the pilgrimage to bodh gaya via a 2 – 3 - day overland trip from the bhutanese border town of , and drukair management plans on acquiring 20 – 30 % of this traffic , although the airline had yet to record a profit on the route at of february 2006 . the following month , as a result of royal bhutan army efforts to expel from bhutan territory indian separatist insurgent groups , notably the united liberation front of and the national democratic front of , flights to dhaka were suspended from 29 december in order to prevent insurgents from using drukair flights to escape to alleged hideouts in bangladesh . airbus era the first airbus a319 arrived in bhutan on 19 october 2004 ; the date chosen after a buddhist astrologer was consulted to ensure the aircraft arrived in bhutan on an auspicious day in the buddhist calendar . before entering service on commercial flights on 31 october 2004 , drukair took their a319 on a country - wide flight in honour of the of crown prince jigme khesar namgyel wangchuck to the . the second aircraft was delivered by airbus to drukair in december 2004 . on 31 august 2012 , druk air took delivery of a third airbus a319 . in july 2005 , the governments of india and bhutan signed a new bilateral air services agreement which increased the allowable number of weekly flights between the two countries from 12 to 49 . in addition to destinations already served by drukair , the cities of mumbai , chennai and guwahati were included in their services agreement , with bhutan being granted fifth freedom rights from several indian cities to onward destinations such as yangon , dhaka and singapore . domestic helicopter service was inaugurated in november 2005 , in line with a resolution by the council of ministers in april 2001 which stated that domestic services should be introduced . thirty heliports across the country were identified , and the introduction of services saw , for example , the 550 kilometres ( 340 mi ) trip from thimphu to taking only one hour , instead of two to three days . the eurocopter helicopter operated by the nepalese operator , air dynasty , had by january 2006 seen 30 hours of service , netting drukair us $ 3 , 000 in profits . flights to dhaka , suspended since 29 december 2003 , resumed on 23 october 2006 , and the airline was given rights to fly to chittagong and cox 's bazar by the bangladeshi authorities . the airline announced plans in july 2007 to start scheduled flights to mumbai via kathmandu from march 2008 , inline with the strategy of drukair management to increase the number of indian tourists travelling to bhutan during the low season months of june through august and november through february . these plans were put on hold in march 2008 , due to paro airport not being able to handle night flights and the airline only being able to secure landing slots at mumbai 's chhatrapati shivaji international airport at 3 am . plans for services to hong kong , singapore , abu dhabi , dubai and sharjah were also shelved . the airline posted its first profit in 2007 of btn 31 . 15 million . the two bae 146 aircraft were sold to star perú in october 2007 for us $ 3 . 3 million , and left bhutan for peru in november and december 2007 . druk gyalpo jigme khesar namgyel wangchuck on 11 november 2007 issued a royal kasho establishing druk holding and investments limited , a holding company which would manage existing and future investments of the royal bhutanese government . as a result , seven government - owned companies , including drukair , had their ownership transferred from the ministry of finance to the newly formed holding company . incorporated on 13 november 2007 , druk holding and investments announced in december 2007 that given bhutan 's tourism industry being reliant on drukair , the head of the government agency overseeing tourism development in bhutan would become the chairperson of drukair , and would be responsible for improving the performance of the national airline . in march 2008 , drukair introduced a new uniform for its flight attendants , consisting of a contemporary and . the uniforms were introduced for the centenary celebrations of the monarchy , as well as the airlines own silver jubilee . the uniform was chosen by way of a competition in which five bhutanese fashion designers submitted entries , with the winner receiving a btn 75 , 000 prize . the textiles used in the new uniform were chosen via a competition which was jointly organised by drukair and the united nations development programme to promote the bhutanese textile industry and culture . although the government of bhutan goes to great lengths to prevent outside influences from intruding on bhutanese culture , drukair is not immune to problems which affect the airline industry and the world community at large . in june 2008 , citing hikes in the price of oil and the need to contain operational costs , the airline reduced frequencies across its network and announced an increase in airfares to offset the increased costs , whilst taking advantage of the lower cost of jet fuel at delhi , kolkata and bangkok airports . due to its small network which is reliant on fifth - freedom rights , drukair regularly leases its aircraft to other airlines , such as myanmar airways international , indian airlines and bangkok airways in order to keep utilisation rates on its aircraft higher than they would under normal circumstances , whilst at the same time earning extra revenue . the airline was due to begin flights on 20 april 2009 to bagdogra airport in india , but had to delay the inaugural flight due to the lack of immigration and customs facilities at the airport . the inaugural flight to bagdogra airport left paro airport on 18 june 2009 , making drukair the first international airline to operate into the airport . in bagdogra , a ceremony was held which was attended by s. m. krishna , the indian minister for external affairs , and ugyen , the bhutanese minister of foreign affairs . contemporary developments until 23 august 2010 drukair was the only airline flying into bhutan . the airline is a lifeline for the bhutanese people , connecting bhutan with the outside world and supporting emerging inbound tourism and export markets . drukair has recently been criticised for its unreliability — particularly by the bhutanese tourism industry which is still in its infancy and regards the very company upon which it relies as its biggest threat . in october 2009 , the bhutanese government planned construction works of an airstrip in . the airstrip , which was expected to be 3 , 900 feet ( 1 , 200 m ) in length and operational by march 2010 , would allow for service by small aircraft in the 15 – 16 seat category . the project was being financed with nu . 34 million from the budget which was previously allocated to the development of domestic helicopter services . the airstrip would only be operational during the morning hours due to high winds in the afternoon , making safe operations risky . drukair is conducting a feasibility study into operating flights to the airstrip from paro , as well as , two others which are under construction at and gelephu . in 2006 the indian government acting for the bhutanese government , conducted a feasibility study into the viability of an international airport near the southern bhutanese town of gelephu . in the five - year plan ( which covers 2008 – 2013 ) the sum of btn 2 , 826 million had been allocated by the bhutanese government for development of the new airport . a preliminary survey was conducted by india in may 2006 and the survey team from the airports authority of india was to return and complete the final survey in september 2006 . in october 2008 the project was shelved , and the bhutanese government decided that the airport at gelephu would be used for domestic flights only . since then , the construction of a domestic airport at gelephu has been scheduled to commence in late 2010 with the airport proposing to start operations in june 2011 . the bhutanese department of civil aviation ( dca ) has indicated that gelephu 's will be an ' all - weather ' airport that may be able to accept some international traffic in the future . under the vision 2020 plan , the royal bhutanese government has identified the requirement for improved external air links by 2017 , in an effort to increase tourism revenue 100 % by 2012 and 150 % by 2017 . drukair is conducting feasibility studies into the commencement of operations to either hong kong or singapore by march 2011 . the airline 's commercial manager has stated that preliminary studies show that bhutanese traffic to singapore would consist mainly of official travel , whilst traffic to hong kong would be mainly commercial , with good prospects for tourism development . on 21 april 2010 , an atr 42 turboprop regional aircraft was delivered to paro under a nine - month lease . the aircraft was used on flights from paro to kolkata and kathmandu , and was on standby during the south asian association for regional cooperation summit in thimphu at the end of april . drukair announced its intention to join the international air transport association in 2009 . destinations drukair operates scheduled flights to the following destinations : fleet as of march 2016 , the drukair fleet consists of the following aircraft : the atr 42 first operated on a nine - month lease from april 2010 was evaluated by the airline with the possibility of a future purchase . on 4 june 2011 , a purchased atr 42 arrived in paro . drukair had bought the 48 - seater with the view of using it to service the domestic routes to bumthang and in late 2011 .