Toughest Airport in the World to land an Airbus!!

DRUK AIR o Bhutan has some very skilled pilots who operate a fleet of Airbus aircraft into what is more than likely the toughest airport any Airbus flies in and out of. JustPlanes visited the airline in Paro back in 2001 when it was operating a fleet of BAe146s and was delighted to return now to film its fleet off Airbuses and ATRs.
The complete cockpit film is nearly 5 hours long and includes 8 flights to some great destinations in Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Thailand.
FILM INFO
www.worldairroutes.com/drukair...
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[@justplanes]

Most of you will never visit Bhutan so we're delighted to bring you this new 5 hour Cockpit Film, enjoy!

[@NICOCRAFTAviation737]

5 hours ??

[@mjp9149]

I've been. From Singapore to Bhutan and then back. Truly an special and spectacular expeirence

[@momodophugdrakpa3928]

@MaidenAirTM VQPR

[@lufthpilot]

I flew with this Captain, he's such an awesome person with so much of patience. Down to earth. He is Greek. His name is Captain. Pantelis Kouflis. Loved flying with him.

[@andrewanane9715]

Lol I thought he was speaking from outside in the beginning

[@michelgardes]

In other words, one of the only airfields in the world where pilots still hand-fly their approaches even on a CAVOK day. Great video and very nice crews, by the way!

[@justplanes]

Totally. Everything is always hand flown into Paro.

[@AvLand]

Absolutely Insane! Props to the pilots flying here, massive effort!

[@chapterrv]

AvLand "Props to the pilots flying here"? Doncha mean "Jet engines to the pilots flying here"? Get it? 😅 😂

[@AvLand]

😂😂😂😂

[@ldl9280]

I’ve been to the “Kingdom of Happiness” three times, but alas, my traveling days are history. JP’s Himalayan vidz are my most frequently viewed, along with the France A380 and Kai Taks. The other day I was viewing the older Drukair vid wondering if Mr Mike was going to offer us the 319 operating out of Paro. If only my wondering became a “genie wish,” because here it is. This is real stick & rudder flying in an Airbus and mountain weather whose behavior cannot be forecasted well. By the way, the first captain in the preview is a good teacher. I like the mindset: “Cockpit manager number 1 and cockpit manager number 2, instead of Pilot Flying and Non-Flying Pilot”. Great stuff! I am going over to the shop to get my copy. Thank you JP

[@kamakazialex]

Great video :) Thank you!

[@CyrusOG666]

1st Captain Badass!👌

[@salimbenchekroun6037]

Exquisite. Truly !

[@76notam]

Great pilots.. bravo 👍😉

[@richardshiggins704]

Bravo and well done !! Very interesting . I suppose Kai Tak , Bhutan and Faro was and are the most challenging airports in the world to fly into . Thanks for the warm welcome , should like very much to visit .

[@paulm.7422]

Don't forget SXM ... St Maarten!

[@airbus214airplane]

Very professional crews!

[@vasily2022]

Brilliant!

[@josipvrandecic2472]

Very exciting ... thanks to Bhutan.

[@luisantoniodiazlozada59]

Great video and nice.also in the Carribean we have several airports that are difficult to land and has special procedures like dominica,st Vincent and others 👍👍✈️

[@yvng4697]

Amazing 🔥🔥🔥

[@sirmium12]

Talking about difficult landings....kudos to those brave pilots...

[@AlonsoRules]

a hand flyers dream that place

[@katpis9121]

The second pilot with the grey hair has to be Greek!!! Sounds like my dad lol

[@justplanes]

I believe you are correct :)

[@DimitrisTrachiotis]

I was just about to comment that!! Now I would like to fly with that guy there!

[@no_bull]

He's probably an old ex-Olympic airways pilot.

[@khalidmunir7438]

Nice one

[@Gusrikh1]

Very interesting

[@lobzangdorjay757]

Paro, the home base of Druk Air.

[@monibstar]

Nice

[@f3nd13y]

Should be “Toughest airport the Airbus allows you to land in”

[@ami6272]

f3nd13y Airbus planes are so good they can even land on water capt. Sully

[@sukhoy35]

Very beautiful PBH Landing.

[@cicci0salsicci0]

That's cool

[@hatimbabahatim8213]

Great polet

[@ldl9280]

I forgot to mention in my previous the pilot requirements is strict enough he or she essentially needs to have an airport checktide - not actually but close to it -to operate in it, as with that one in the Caribbean whose name I can’t remember, and some others. I remember asking one of their pilots why their flights were always scheduled in the morning - it was late March then - to which stated in the afternoon hellacious turbulence is often generated from strong anabatic winds so they schedule for morning only, same as the Lukla flights from Tribhuvan and return. I loooove that mountain flying but I made sure to have a full stomach whenever I strapped in on any of those white-knuckled flights.

[@ldl9280]

That was suppose to read: NOT have a full stomach .... Oy.

[@Pakito373]

I think that the seconds captiain is from Spain

[@Wandile1000]

Is it captain only landing/takeoff?

[@cesarioj.f.g.7959]

Yeap

[@kevinholm2794]

✈️✈️✈️✈️👍👍👍👍👍

[@mrkongsimr]

Why only Airbus ?

[@margaretroselle8610]

Wow,you need your wits about you flying in and out of here!

[@tomjardine100]

What happens in foggy situations, I am assuming you can’t use auto land here ?

[@edhoc2]

They can only fly on daylight and good visibility. (I remember that I have head this in another video - but I don't remember which one.)

[@justplanes]

No autoland... in fog they would divert to another airport until the fog lifts.

[@yapgimkwee8842]

there are a lot of mountains. easy ti crash

[@wangtomy5144]

easiest for a Boeing?

[@raboesperto]

i can land the learjet barelly in FS2004 on KB .... the B's i dont even bother trying ....

[@lawrenceforman6999]

Auto pilot for conversion

[@mullasadhra99]

Any ATR 72 aircraft??

[@justplanes]

Yes the film includes 4 flights on the airline's ATR

[@karmatashi9903]

There is no ATR 72 it's only ATR 42-600.

[@karmatashi9903]

I mean ATR42-500**

[@ouzienavantj8018]

Easy kai tak

[@f1fun488]

OMG 0_0

[@cwg73160]

“Toughest airport in the World To land an Airbus”. But not Boeings, Bombardiers, or Embraers? Only Airbuses? Are Boeings of similar size easier to land at that airport than Airbuses? Is it all Airbuses? Is there something unique about all Airbuses that makes them so difficult to land at that particular airport?

[@justplanes]

Well there may be some airports that are more challenging such as perhaps Lukla, not as much in the final approach but more in the fact that its on a hill on one side and a wall on the other... so for a Do228 or Twin Otter that would be the toughest airport to land at but since no Airbus lands in Lukla I'm pretty confident that Paro is the toughest place for an Airbus to land at... As you can see the plane is still turning at the beginning of the runway... I don't think you see that in airports that take jets of the size of an Airbus... There are no scheduled Boeing flights into Paro.

[@cwg73160]

JustPlanes I was trying to point out the flaw in the TITLE of the video. Since the title only says Airbus, you’re implying that the airport is difficult for only Airbuses and not any other aircraft. A better title would be, “Toughest Airport in the World to land a Jet” or “Toughest Airport in the World to Land”.

[@justplanes]

Ah yes you are right... the only reason we titles it this way is because we have years of experience in what to expect in the comments :) If we put Toughest Airport to land we would get countless of comments of people who disagree because this or that airplane could land in an airport they think is harder... by adding Airbus to the title it gives them no room to contradict the title...

[@PureMatteo]

5000h on B737 here so here would be my debatable guess : airbus 320 are very popular in western china close to the himalayan, as well as newer boeings. My guess is, it''s not about boeing vs airbus, but about fly by wire to aid you in looking out through the windows rather than be constantly fighting the speed and attitude inside the cockpit. The 737 is generally seen as a good school for hand flying, however if I had to choose a plane to land in paro i would definitely go with a small airbus because : 1/ their fly by wire make you concentrate on the visuals 2/ they fly slower than equivalent boeings meaning their turn radius are tighter (about 10kt less for an A320 to a similar B738) 3/ they still have good climb performance which is obviously primordial in mountains, I believe (don't quote me) the 319 is the best ouf of the 320 family because it has the bigger engines of 19/20/21 but are not so heavy, even if I can see i outclimb A320s with a B738 most of the time. I see a 320 Neo listed so i believe their experience dictate a 320neo is acceptable compared to a 319 I don't believe they chose airbus over boeing for any other reason than basically making the approach easier to perform. The boeing 737 is also know to be harder to control in high winds which might be an added issue when flying in asia, like they say, in the monsoon. They also, I believe, schedule some flights only at specific times of the day, because at others the winds are statistically too extreme. Automation, although people like to criticize them, have their use in extreme places like this if coupled with strong experience, and a good fly by wire system is an ally in such a place I personnally have a lot of fun flying even a 747 in simulators in this plane (empty of course), and I do "easily" the 738ng but I would still guess with similar experience on airbus I would understand the choice over boeings. Both have their strong points, but in the case of mountain flying I can see little airbuses get an advantage, while for example in long haul intercontinental operations the B777 have proven a stronger plane than the A330 overall. There is currently no fly by wire little boeing, while A318/19 or the "new" A220 obviously fit the role too. When boeing have their fly by wire regional jet, you might see it land in bhutan too, that's just my guess. So, no preference there, just needs assesments, and experience from drukair leading to their choice, I believe There might, additionaly, be political/strategical choices as I seem to see china airlines use more airbuses even within their country, and they have their own airbus factories, and their COMAC plane looks like an airbus copy. Their might be some political and economical advantage using airbus in this region of the world, also for these reasons (for example, access to pieces and engineering with nearby companies and countries ? just a guess). In their case it wouldn't be the #1 reason, but an added advantge, just like being a european airline leads to, usually, tighter connections with airbus even if low cost companies use both types succesfully in the world. I would call this place a tough place regardless of the airplane type. I'd guess it's easy to land in an atr on a good day, however on a windy day it must be sweeaty to go down the valley in a turboprop too. I perform tight approaches in NG in calm places but I would think twice betfore going down in an easier plane because of the local conditions for sure. Probably after seing what a bad day can be, even more ! Cheers

[@raboesperto]

it can't be that hard if a woman can do it ....

[@ngesookolo8282]

*smh*

[@craigtonkin6343]

Sexist bugger.