Bhutan's infant air carrier, Druk Air, is thinking big. It is poised to begin simultaneous air links with neighbouring Nepal and beyond the South Asian region with Thailand. Having taken delivery of a brand new jet made by British Aerospace, in March Druk Air hopes to link the three Asian kingdoms at one go.
The venture has been developed jointly by the Bhutan Tourism Corporation (BTC) with Thai International airways and is simply called "Three Kingdoms". Druk Air will bring tourists in from Bangkok for three days in Bhutan and fly them on to Kathmandu. BTC hopes that the package will attract a more diverse group of tourists. Presently, visitors to Thimphu — officially restricted to only about 2,500 a year — are mostly from Japan, the United States and West Germany.
SPECTACULAR JOURNEYS
The Bhutanese airline, which started with a fleet of two 18 seater Domiers, has been steadily expanding its reach. It began its first international flights to Calcutta in early 1983 and added Dhaka to its schedules in 1986. Flights to New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport were begun in December, 1988, with the acquisition of the four-engine, 80-seater British Aerospace jet — the BAe 146.