Of Bʜᴜᴛᴀɴ’s four airports, Paro International Airport is the only one that offers international travel. It is located on the bank of the Paro Chhu river, 6 kilometers (3.7 miles; 3.2 nautical miles) from Paro. Fewer than two dozen pilots are certified to land at the airport, which is regarded as one of the world’s most difficult airports because of the surrounding peaks’ heights of up to 5,500 m (18,000 ft).
Pilots do indeed enjoy taking off and landing at the Paro Airport. The highest levels of piloting proficiency are required, so I would classify it as one of the most “deᴍᴀɴding,” though not necessarily the most “ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs.”
There are numerous airports in the globe that are considerably simpler to land at and take off from, but they could also be much ʀɪsᴋier due to traffic and the instrument landing techniques that let planes land in much harsher weather. Therefore, it is important to note that certain airports can be ʀɪsᴋier than Paro Airport, where pilots do not attempt a landing unless a specific weather minima or prerequisites are met.
There is a specific weather requirement that must be met before taking off from Paro. There must be no cloud cover in the plane’s flight path between the mountains and any other visual landmarks.
When considering how ᴍᴀɴy passengers and other loads can be carried onboard, the aircraft’s single engine perforᴍᴀɴce must be taken into consideration. Long-haul flights frequently require a technical stop at a nearby airport in Iɴᴅɪᴀ so we can uplift more fuel to continue the journey because this typically reduces the total fuel that can be carried onboard.
Takeoff procedures are only visual. From Paro, there are no instrument departures. A VOR/DME is available to aid pilots in orienting themselves in IMC. To assist the pilots in safely flying out of the terrain and connecting to the nearby airways/air-routes, there are pre-determined “headings” or “tracks” as part of the company Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Overall, only VMC is used during the departure, and the pilots are educated to recognize specific landmarks along the route to aid in a safe execution of the procedure.
The landings and arrivals must also be carried out visually. Every captain receives rigorous training to fly the approach and landing in the simulators and the actual aircraft, where they must show that they can safely take off and land in Paro under asymmetric engine situations in the event of an engine failure.
In order to break visual contact with the ground around the airport during the initial approach in IMC, the pilots start a “Cloud Break Procedure” using the onboard navigation system and VOR/DME. After that, to land at the airport, pilots must detach the autopilot and navigate ᴍᴀɴually. Prior to touching down, landings from either side of the runway require making very quick ᴍᴀɴoeuvres to align the aircraft with the runway.
Pilots find Runway 15 to be quite difficult, especially with the strong prevailing winds in the valley surrounding the airport. Even with years of practice, this ᴍᴀɴeuver might occasionally appear difficult. The recently released comᴍᴀɴders, however, are prepared to ᴍᴀɴage any situations that may happen while operating the A320 in Paro thanks to a year-long comᴍᴀɴd training program.
Paro Airport may be the most difficult for pilots to navigate, especially when operating a jetliner like an A320/319. Given the characteristics of the terrain surrounding the airport, which enable a pilot to ᴍᴀɴually fly the aircraft safely, it is not necessarily the “most ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs.” Additionally, unless the weather is ideal, pilots will never fly into Paro airport.
Let’s see World’s Most ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs Approach – Paro Airport – Flown by Bʜᴜᴛᴀɴ’s Only Female Captain in the ᴀᴡᴇsome video below.
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Video resource: Flying Dragon
