Bhutan's Druk Air is seeking traffic rights to expand its route network to Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore, while closing on the sale of its BAe 146s to standardise its fleet around the Airbus A319.
Managing director Sangey Tenzing says the new services depend largely on a revised air services agreement being negotiated with India to give it further fifth freedom, or beyond, rights.
The carrier's network currently covers flights on just two routes: Paro-Kolkata-Bangkok and Paro-Kathmandu-Delhi. Sangey says it hopes to operate the new services beyond Delhi or Kolkata, India. Hong Kong may be served via the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.
"Early next year we are hoping to start the new routes," he says. "Our government is still negotiating the air services agreement [with India]. This is taking a long time, but we are hopeful."
Druk is the only airline serving the reclusive Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which effectively limits the number of foreign visitors by requiring them to spend a minimum amount of US dollars a day. Its Paro base has the country's only airport and it is a challenging one for operations, being 7,340ft (2,240m) above sea level and surrounded by high mountains.
The two BAe 146s that have long been operated often require payloads to be restricted, but last year it took delivery of two new A319s, which Sangey says expanded capacity and improved efficiency. He says potential buyers are now looking at the two BAe 146s, which were built in 1988 and 1992, and their sale is thought to be near.
"The target is June or July this year. Druk cannot afford to run two fleets, so we need to have only the A319s. It doesn't make sense to work with two different types."
With the BAe 146, Sangey says the carrier can sell only 62 of the 72 seats for nine months of the year because of payload restrictions, and even then with every 1° above 15°C (59°F), four passengers have to be offloaded.
NICHOLAS IONIDES/PARO
Source: Flight International
