Drukair

Is Drukair safe?

On its aeroplanes, the record is clean. Drukair, Bhutan's state-owned flag carrier, flies Airbus A319s, an A320neo and an ATR 42-600 into Paro, one of the most demanding airports anywhere, and the accident databases have no accident for any of them in the last 20 years. The blot is its helicopter division: in March 2023 one of its EC130s crashed on a passenger flight in the mountains, killing a woman and her four-year-old daughter. Drukair is an IATA member with an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit, and no Bhutanese airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary. We score it 69, one point below Bhutan Airlines (70) and well above the Nepali airlines next door, such as Buddha Air (55).

Flying into Paro

Paro is Bhutan's main international airport. It sits deep in a valley at about 7,300 feet, with mountains up to 16,000 feet around it. Airbus tested the A319 there for two days in 2002 before Drukair took its first two in 2004, to prove it could climb out safely with a useful load. The ATR 42-600 Drukair received in October 2019 has a satellite-guided approach system (RNP AR 0.3) and ATR's ClearVision system, which shows the pilots an enhanced and synthetic view of the terrain.

The rest of the network is easier. Drukair flies to Kolkata, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Bangkok and other cities in the region, and since December 2025 also from Gelephu in southern Bhutan to Kolkata. Kathmandu has its own valley approach; most of the other airports are large, well-equipped hubs.

The 2023 helicopter crash

Bhutan's helicopter service, set up in 2015, was merged into Drukair, and it flies medical evacuations, rescues, sightseeing and charters to remote valleys. On 3 March 2023 an EC130, registration A5-BHT, was flying a family of four to Wachey in Lunana, one of the remotest parts of the country. It hit terrain in a mountain forest and was destroyed. The mother, aged 38, and her four-year-old daughter died; the father, the older daughter and the pilot survived with injuries.

According to The Bhutanese, the final report found nothing wrong with the engine or the helicopter, and gave the probable cause as pilot error linked to "management and relation issues". In August 2025 the Thimphu District Court found Drukair negligent and awarded the family Nu 57.36 million (about US$640,000). Both sides have appealed. We count the crash against Drukair because the company flew the passengers itself, on a commercial flight, but we weigh it less than an airliner accident would be.

Fleet

Drukair's fleet is small and modern in type. It has three A319s, one A320neo, the ATR 42-600 and, since late 2025, a Pilatus PC-24 business jet for premium charters. All of them are current designs with modern cockpits, and the Airbuses are fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary. The A319s are the weak spot. Drukair took its first two in 2004, and in October 2024 it firmed an order for three A320neos and two long-range A321XLRs to replace its ageing aircraft.

Incidents and oversight

The airline's recent record of serious incidents is short. In May 2022 an A319 climbing out of Bangkok as flight KB-151 got a fire warning on the right engine. The crew shut it down and landed back in Bangkok about 25 minutes later. Thailand's AIB found signs of fire and fuel leaks near an engine actuator and rated it a serious incident. Older events, such as hail that damaged an A319's nose cone near Guwahati in 2016, fall outside our ten-year window.

That short list is reassuring but not conclusive. Bhutan's Civil Aviation Authority and its investigators publish little online, and we could not find the final report on the 2023 crash, only press accounts of it. Bhutan is not on the FAA's IASAFAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary list, because no Bhutanese airline flies to the United States. Bhutan's own State Safety Programme, issued in April 2025, says ICAO last audited the country in 2018 and sets a target to raise its effective implementationICAO USOAPICAO's audit of how well each country's aviation regulator oversees safety. The result is an "effective implementation" percentage.More in the glossary of ICAO standards to 60%, still below the global average. We treat that low target and the eight years without an ICAO audit as a documented weakness and take 2 points off oversight, which scores 68. The strongest outside check is IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary: as an IATA member, Drukair must pass the audit every two years.

How to fly Drukair

• Build in a spare day. Weather in the Paro valley can delay or cancel flights. Do not book a tight onward connection on the same day.
• Ask questions before a helicopter charter. Ask about the weather plan and whether the pilot can turn back without pressure. The 2023 crash happened on a passenger flight to a remote valley.

How we scored it

The accident record (75) carries the most weight. Drukair's aeroplanes have no accident on record in 20 years, but the 2023 helicopter crash killed two passengers on a commercial flight. Serious incidents (78) reflect the 2022 engine fire and a thin public record. Oversight (68) rests on IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary and the absence of any EU listing, offset by a small regulator that publishes little, sets a low ICAO target and has not been audited by ICAO since 2018. The fleet (70) is modern in type but has ageing A319s. The environment (35) reflects Paro.