An Airbus being test-flown. Picture by Subhash Chandra Bose

Jaigaon, Sept. 26: In a major step towards modernising its air fleet, Druk Air Corporation, the national carrier of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, is inducting two Airbus aircraft for better services between Paro, Kathmandu and Delhi.

Speaking over telephone from Paro, the managing director of Druk Air, Sangay Khandu, said two Airbus A319 would arrive this year.

?The first one is expected to land in Paro on October 19 and the second in the second week of November. We expect to use them from October 31 on the Paro-Delhi flight via Kathmandu,? he said.

He said the airline currently operated a couple of British Aerospace Corporation?s jets, which were 72-seaters, over 10 years old and needed to be phased out.

?The Airbus will be 114-seaters, which will cater to the growing traffic to the Himalayan kingdom,? he added.

Since 2002, Bhutan has had over 80,000 visitors, most of whom arrived by Druk Air.

?The reputation of our country as a mysterious Shangri La and the flow of people travelling to sites of Buddhist interest from neighbouring countries is also increasing each year,? Khandu said.

?We were considering both the Airbus model and the Boeing 737-700, but the former is better suited for us. Each cost $40 million. We can also use them in the Paro-Bangkok, and Paro-Hong Kong sectors,? the managing director said.

An Airbus A319 was brought over to Bhutan and test-flown for several hours. The trial flights were piloted by Bhutan pilots.

At present, Druk Air flies to Calcutta, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Delhi, Gaya, Myanmar and Bangkok. Khandu said the airline was contemplating the expansion of routes to Chennai and Mumbai.