The World's Most Dangerous Approach - Paro, Bhutan

Join me on a flight with Bhutan Airlines (Tashi Air) A319 from Kathmandu to Paro, Bhutan. Paro Airport is situated in between mountains and valleys at 7,332 ft above sea level. The approach is well considered as one of the most dangerous and most spectacular in the world. Check out the amazing landing footage.

In addition, the flight also flew across many top 10 mountains in the world include Mt Everest.

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Join us for a spectacular and thrilling, up close, documentary look at the world’s most dangerous airport landing at Paro airport in Bhutan. Make sure you watch all the way to the end of the video to catch the sped up, bird’s eye view of the fabulous and graceful twisting and turning of the aeroplane on its approach to the landing strip of Paro airport, the sole international airport of Bhutan located six kilometres from Paro in a very deep valley on the bank of the river Paro Chhu, and how the runway suddenly appears from nowhere. It takes a real aviation expert and a very steady hand to make a safe landing at Paro airport!

In this video, we fly from Kathmandu airport in Nepal to Paro airport in Bhutan using Bhutan airlines. After a brief look inside Kathmandu airport’s executive airport lounge, we board our flight and meet the chief pilot of Bhutan airlines – we’re in safe hands; only a handful of trained captains are qualified and certified to land at Paro airport and it takes a minimum of eight to ten years of intensive training to become a captain.

We examine the runway at Kathmandu airport which is very bumpy and, interestingly, has no taxiways to the main runway, necessitating the use of some tricky manoeuvres and, needless to say, keen attention paid to air traffic control.

The flight is only forty minutes long but the flight is still packed with events and sights. In the video, we see most of the top ten highest mountains in the world within the Himalayas including Mount Makalu, Mount Lhotse and the tallest of all, Mount Everest. We also see the mountains of Bhutan within the Himalayan mountain range including Jomolhari and Jitchu Drake. The pictures of the snow capped mountains of the Himalayas are breath taking and we hear the captain’s opinions of why he thinks there is less snow now than there was in previous years.

We also enjoy lunch with champagne on board and we enjoy sharing a specially made cake with the Bhutan airlines crew to celebrate our travelling with them to the legendary Paro airport of Bhutan.

Paro airport is surrounded by mountains as high as 5500 metres and only has a single runway of length 1964 metres. Its single terminal was constructed in 1999 and it is a hub for two airlines: Bhutan airlines and Druk Air. Paro airport is such a difficult airport to land in that it can only be used in visual meteorological conditions and operational hours are restricted to daylight hours between sunrise and sunset.

You really won’t want to miss this video focusing on the world’s most challenging airport to land at. Let us know in the comments what you thought of the scenery and the whole experience and, as always, thanks for watching!

[moes]

Captain Badass is hand flying, on a descent path, curving through the mountains while pointing at all the monasteries like he's a tour guide. What a legend.

[sunitapradhan]

I am a Bhutanese.
It's a very honourable thing having such a talented pilot like captain Chenga in our country.
His friendly attitudes are the warmest welcomes to those who visit our country.
And special thanks to Mr Sam Chui who represented our country's footage in his channel.

[patton]

Love this captain. Turns off GPWS, prays, and then starts hand flying through a canyon while pointing out the sights.
What an amazing guy.

[gmctech]

I absolutely love watching talented pilots performing a highly technical approach and landing. His stick and rudder flying was so smooth and precise it looked like a well choreographed dance... True high quality airmanship here folks!

[bittersweethood]

amazing, you can tell the captain is really passionate and proud of his country when he is explaining all the landmarks

[akintoms]

The Pilot is one of the best and most friendly ☺️☺️☺️

[ksp]

Huge respects to Captain Chenga!
He knows each of mountains from Nepal with their height! Such a knowledgeable and friendly professional pilot!

[tenzinwangchuk]

With 16M views and almost 13k comments appreciating the content and also the fact that there is not even a hint of hatred in the comment section speaks volumes, Proud to be a Bhutanese

[Puchacz]

Most airfields have ILS - Instrument landing system to navigate through approach pattern... Paro in Bhutan has MLS - Monasteries Landing System to keep planes on proper approach track.

[imranfaizal]

Well experienced pilot, , hats off too him and its credibility.

[Amar-yjwc]

Fun fact :-
Only 10 pilots from the world have licence to landing in Paro.
Now u can imagine how much tough and dangerous too at same time.
Wht kind skill, experience and ball of steel u need!!
Hats off to pilot 🙌✈️👨‍✈️

[N.I.R.A.T.I.A.S.]

"World's most dangerous approach"

Captain: *acts as tour guide during approach*

Hats off to the captain. There's no replacement for skill and experience.

[pranaybanga]

The captain is the sweetest and the most humble man! What an amazing man!

[AmitSharma-cgqr]

This is probably most beautiful, most interesting video in Aviation History. Special mention for the Pilot for his amazing skills & humility. You made Bhutan so proud.

[leokimvideo]

You get a feel for how high Mt Everest is when in a jet your looking up at it 😳

[suntzu]

The Bhutanese pilot was amazing just like the land of Bhutan.
Love from India.

[lashlarue]

Hats off to that pilot. Very professional. Just remember: he does this every day like it's nothing. That is a lot of skill and responsibility!

[dr.zoidberg]

Check list:
Flaps ✔️
Gear ✔️
Pray ✔️

[jacquelineoreilly]

Took this trip about 15 years ago…the most beautiful amazing country in the world….this flight was amazing and our pilot pointed out Mt Everest as we passed it….so grateful to Bhutan and it’s people

[scottpecora]

The captain exudes confidence, knowledge, ability, and humility. I immediately felt relaxed watching the video and would place my family lives in this man's hands. The brief prayer is a touch. Best of luck Captain Chenga.