The Airport

Bhutan is a mountainous kingdom in the eastern Himalayas between China and India. The country is worth to pay a visit because of the challenging airport in the Paro valley.

Paro Airport (VQPR)    is the only airport in Bhutan. It is located in a 7300 ft elevated valley and surrounded by 16000 ft peaks. The single runway is 6500 ft. Even though the airport is isolated and complex to fly it is flown by medium size jets.

The terrain makes instrument approaches with small minimums impossible. In the 1996 Jeppesen charts there is only a single instrument approach, a VOR/DME approach with a Minimum Descent Altitude of more than 5000 ft above airport elevation!

The Flight

Take off on RWY 36 at Baghdogra (VEBD), turn right heading 071 to waypoint TAKTI, Climb to 16000’.

Fly next to PRO VOR 108.4, heading 360 degrees from TAKTI.

Descend to 10,000’ for a visual approach to RWY 33.