Changi Airport welcomes Bhutan’s royal princess on board Drukair

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She was here to mark the historic event making Singapore the fifth country to be linked to Bhutan by air.

Changi Airport yesterday (Aug 28) welcomed the arrival of Drukair, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bhutan, which is situated in the Himalayas between China and India.

A special inaugural flight from the Bhutanese city of Paro landed at Changi Airport in the afternoon with Her Royal Highness Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck, the eldest princess of the Bhutan royal family, on board. Her Royal Highness is leading a delegation here to inaugurate the commencement of Drukair’s direct service between Paro and Singapore.

She is accompanied by the Bhutan Minister of Information and Communication, and Chairman of Druk Holdings and Investment, among other senior government officials.

Drukair’s Paro-Singapore route begins commercial service on 1 September 2012. The commencement of this twice-weekly service means passengers departing from Singapore can now reach Bhutan in under six hours, saving an overnight transfer stay in Thailand or India as visitors currently have to do.

Singapore is only the fifth country to be linked to Bhutan by air.

Singapore boasts strong ties with Bhutan. Apart from cooperation at both the government and people-to-people levels in areas such as education, healthcare and media, there has been a strong increase in the number of Singapore travellers heading to Bhutan. In 2011, about 1,300 visitors from Singapore headed for Bhutan, representing an increase of more than 70% over 20101. Bhutan received over 64,000 visitors in 20112.
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Drukair will operate a two-class configuration using the A319 aircraft on the Paro-Singapore service. The flight arrives in Singapore from Paro at 1515 hours on Wednesdays and Saturdays, while the return flight from Singapore to Paro features an early morning departure out of Changi at 0600 hours on Thursdays and Sundays. The flight reaches Paro at 0945 hours, allowing travellers the entire day ahead to explore Bhutan. Drukair will operate at Changi Airport’s Terminal 1.