[imagesource: Paro International Airport]

It’s not usual to have a Buddha in the cockpit.

It’s also not usual for a pilot to speedily execute a dramatic last-minute turn to land an A319 on a slender runway at one of the most technically difficult plane landings in the world.

That’s because they’re both landing at Bhutan’s Paro International Airport (PBH), one of the world’s most exclusive airports. Navigating its short runway nestled between two towering 5,486-meter peaks demands not only exceptional technical skill but also nerves of steel, reports CNN.

The airport and its formidable conditions only enhance the allure of travelling to Bhutan, a mystical Himalayan kingdom home to around 800,000 people. The unique challenges of flying in and out of Paro render jumbo jets a no-go, but for aviation enthusiasts, this is precisely what makes a visit to the Land of the Thunder Dragon so enticing.

Paro is “difficult, but not dangerous,” says Captain Chimi Dorji, who has been working at Bhutan’s national state-owned airline, Druk Air (aka Royal Bhutan Airlines), for 25 years.

“It is challenging on the skill of the pilot, but it’s not dangerous, because if it were dangerous, I wouldn’t be flying.”

A stunning blend of geographic features renders Paro—and much of Bhutan—a visual masterpiece. However, these same elements also transform flying in and out of Paro into a highly specialised skill.

Paro is classified as a category C airport, meaning pilots must undergo specialised training to navigate its challenges. They are required to execute landings manually, without the aid of radar. As Dorji emphasises, it’s essential for pilots to intimately understand the surrounding landscape—miscalculate by even a fraction of an inch, and you risk landing on someone’s house.

“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,” he tells CNN Travel.

Bhutan, which is located between China and India, has more than 97% mountains. Its capital, Thimpu, is 2,350 metres above sea level, while Paro is slightly lower, clocking in at 2,250 metres.

“At higher elevations, the air is thinner, so the aircraft essentially has to fly through the air faster,” explains Dorji, who in addition to flying planes now trains Druk Air’s pilots and cabin crew. “Your true airspeed will be the same, but your airspeed as opposed to the ground is much faster.”

The next skill level to unlock is hacking the weather.

“We try to avoid operations beyond noon because then you get a lot of thermal (winds), the temperatures rising, the rains haven’t come in yet,” says Dorji. “So land is parched and you get all these up drops and get all these anabatic/katabatic winds in the valley in the afternoon. Mornings are much calmer.”

Due to the lack of radar, there are no nighttime flights at Paro, regardless of the season, while different accommodations have to be made during monsoon season (complete with hail that can reach the size of golf balls), which is usually between June and August.

Ultimately, a pilot’s training extends beyond simply knowing how to fly into Paro; it encompasses the crucial ability to recognise when not to fly and the judgment to make that call when conditions aren’t safe for takeoff.

[source:cnn]