During my time in Bhutan, I had the chance to try out both Drukair and Bhutan Airlines in business class. Both carriers offered excellent service and comfortable seating onboard.
Drukair: Kathmandu To Paro
From Nepal, I flew Druk Air (also known as Royal Bhutan Airlines) to Paro. Drukair is the flag carrier and state-owned airline in Bhutan. It operates both domestic and international flights, including to various cities in India and Bangkok, Thailand. Its fleet includes four jets from the Airbus A320 family and one ATR 42 turboprop.
I was hoping for a new A320neo (Drukair has a single one), but I wound up with an Airbus A319…the only one that has not been retrofitted. It really did not matter for the one-hour flight to Paro: the seat was very comfortable, with excellent padding and a legrest.
Nice pre-departure beverages:
Breakfast was served after takeoff…pretty bad, I must say. A sandwich and egg roll. But this was a one-hour flight after all and I loved the tablecloth.
The food may have been regrettable, but the service was not. Sangay the purser was such a kind woman who doted over me and my friend (the only business class passengers in the 16-seat cabin). Here, she is pictured with the state-run English newspaper in Bhutan.
One thrill on the flight was flying over Mount Everest: it was a beautiful morning to fly once we got above the haze in Kathmandu.
We landed without incident in the “most dangerous airport in the world” and walked over to the arrivals hall.
Bhutan Airlines: Paro To New Delhi
Most flights depart Paro early in the morning, which makes enjoying a hotel impossible. I think early morning flights are the worst possible flights. So in leaving, I looked for the latest departure possible. That happened to be Delhi on Bhutan Airlines, which provided an excellent opportunity to fly on Bhutan Airlines, the private carrier in Bhutan.
We were almost denied boarding at check-in (more details coming on that in my full trip report), but thankfully made it onboard.
This time, the business class cabin was not empty (3/4 full), and I really liked the wide and well-padded old-school seats in business class (there were even ashtrays).
The Laurent-Perrier Champagne onboard was quite respectable.
Lunch was decent (chicken with noodles), though the sides (potato salad and some sort of puff pastry) were odd and not at all appetizing.
Service was superb, with very attentive flight attendants throughout the two-hour flight.
CONCLUSION
It was great to check out both Royal Bhutan Airlines (Drukair) and Bhutan Airlines. Both were nice flights with excellent service and comfortable seating, despite the short journey durations.
In my full flight reviews, I will provide many additional details about the flights and service onboard.
And a teaser of what is next:
Stay tuned!
Is there any low-cost competition?
While convertible seating wasn’t a huge issue until a few years ago (as it typically involved 34″ pitch in front of the exit row and the moving armrests yielding extra width and a little table in the middle), it’s a shame that business class on a 4-5 hour transcontinental flight in Europe will more often than not mean 30″ pitch, no IFE, horrible coffee, mediocre wines (obviously without champagne options) and an underwhelming meal.
No LCCs. Market is too small.
The landing videos at Paro from cockpit perspective on YouTube are amazing and I would recommend anyone to check them out… truly threading the needle.
I think I read that the reason for the flight times out of Paro is there are only a few hours a day where the winds are conducive to operating. Have you heard similar?
Did you ask some to take your photo outside of the plane?
I presume that Druk Air no longer has the BAe 146. They were the launch customer to the RJX, an advanced 146 version, but the program was cancelled by British Aerospace because of 9/11.
I keep seeing “drunk air” and thinking it’s one of your reports on spirit airways.
Brings back such fond memories for me 🙂
I flew them on their ATR from/to KTM in 2016. Being able to see Mt Everest from your airplane window is about as good as IFE gets.
What did you think about the approach into Paro, Matthew? I’m relaxed when it comes to flying, but that approach freaked the hell out of me. The strong winds really seemed to “play” with that little ATR. That, in combination with that very sharp final turn in the end. Great experience, but I was happy when we touched down for sure, lol
Looking forward to more content of this trip!
I could be mistaken, but back in 2016 that 200$ daily tax also covered the guide, driver, car, hotels and other expenses. My 4 day trip cost me all included little over 1000 bucks.
How is the legroom? It looks a bit tight for business class in the pics.
And wjere is the adventure? Is it considered flying those in j? I think we might have different understandig of word adventure.Lol
I flew the same flight, agree the service was excellent, loved that our captain intentionally pointed out Mt Everest and shared some facts/info, loved Bhutan more than Nepal and the Hyatt in Bhutan was
You did not have to say the plane was “flying over Mt. Everest”, as it does not. It would have flown near but south of the peak, as you very well know.
Druk Air’s Paro to Kathmandu flight continues to Delhi – or at least it did. I flew KTM-DEL a couple of times 2005/2007 and always a good flight. I had hoped to do it on the BAe146 but by then they had already got their A319.
I travelled a few years ago. Bangkok to Paro. Then Paro to Bagdorgra to Bangkok. We had a choice of 2 entrees and the food looked more plentiful, The seats even looked better/plusher, years ago! They seem to have curtailed Business Class expenditure. Such a shame. The amazing approach into Paro airport is unique and can only be done by trained /licensed pilots. Apparently, there are only a hand-full of pilots in the World, who are licensed to fly this approach. The AirBuses also had their soft-ware adapted , for this approach.