Review: Drukair A319 Economy From New Delhi-Paro
Intro
Welcome to the next segment of "Around the World in Luxury" onboard Drukair Economy from Delhi to Paro. While this flight was in economy, I felt this was a good chance to review this product as I would be flying business on the next leg. Spoiler alert: this was an incredible flight, getting to see Everest has long been on my bucket list!
Route- New Delhi- Paro
Seat- 18A
Flight Number- KB201
Date- December 28th 2023
Flight Time: 2 Hours 2 minutes
Price Paid- 338$
After a fantastic stay at the Leela Palace (https://www.jettoajet.com/post/review-leela-palace-hotel-new-delhi), it was time to head off on the next adventure to Bhutan!
We arrived at the airport at 9:30 am for a departure time of 12:30. As mentioned in my review of Leela Palace, someone at the airport was there to help us through passport control.
How I Booked This Ticket
Drukair has somewhat of a monopoly, meaning we had to pay whatever the cost was for this flight😅. The booking process was easy, I headed over to the Drukair website, inserted all of my and mum's details, and booked the ticket for 338$ OW in economy.
The cost wasn't that bad considering Drukair is the only airline to fly this route.
Check-In
The Drukair counters were easily found, thanks to our friend's help from the airport.
We entered the economy line which only had a few people in front of us. Once we got to the desk, our visas were checked (Amankora got us visas), our passports checked, and we were given our boarding passes! These are by far the prettiest boarding passes I have seen in a long time!
We said goodbye to our friend who assisted us and made our way through exit immigration which has no line thankfully. Following immigration, we got to security and for some reason, the agent was out to get me, tearing apart my LV bag 😒. I digress, as we made it through airside. With about an hour and a half to kill until boarding, I decided to do some plane-spotting. First up, an old Jet Airways 777-300, which I regret not being able to fly.
It was a foggy morning with a handful of flights being diverted in the days leading up to this flight. Peeping through the window, I saw the small A319 that would take us to Paro today.
Boarding
Boarding was scheduled for 11:30, a whole hour before departure. However, boarding didn't start until 12:05 which worked out perfectly. Business class passengers were called to board first, followed by economy. Bhutan is now one of my favorite countries and this was the first interaction into why. Unlike other places around the world, no one was rushing to get on the plane, everything was laid back and relaxed🥰.
We proceeded down the jetbridge where we saw our flight deck for this afternoon. The cabin crew warmly greeted us and immediately I knew this would be a fantastic flight. We passed by Business Class, and the first rows of economy before finding our seats.
18A and 18B for this 2-hour flight. Trying to be a good son, I gave my mum the window since she likes to look out.
We encountered an Air India 787 next to our plane. While I haven't tried this product yet, it is on my list to do so be patient, please!
The captain came at 12:25 pm to announce our pushback shortly. He expected a flight time of 2 hours and an on-time arrival into Paro. Sure enough, we pushed back just a few minutes behind schedule and made our way out to the runway.
The Seat/Cabin
Drukair's cabins onboard the A319 are arranged in a two-class configuration featuring 16 seats in Business Class, and 102 in Economy.
We had a light load today of only 72 passengers, which meant plenty of extra seats to choose from. I have to say, I love the colors of this cabin!
The legroom I would estimate at 31"inches of pitch and was more than adequate for this short flight.
Seeing as the flight was so empty, I decided to move to a row on the right-hand side of the plane after takeoff so I could see the beautiful views🥰, except the Himalayas were on the right😂.
There was a button to recline your seat, but since someone was sitting behind me I didn't try this out. Lastly, there was a tray table so when it came to meal service, you would be happy.
Overall, I was extremely impressed with this seat. It was spacious, comfortable, and well-designed. This is one of the best business-class seats I have flown in.
IFE
When reading about Drukair, I saw there wasn't much mention of any IFE onboard the A319. I was happy to see that even though there wasn't Wifi on these planes, there were movies available to stream on your devices.
Also can we appreciate that there is a map on the IFE!!!
So many times I have seen this system, but it hasn't had a map. Huge points here Drukair.
Meal Service
A meal service was offered on this short flight! After just getting back from Guatemala a few weeks ago and not being offered a meal on a 5.5-hour flight, damn I miss Asia so much.
While I wasn't hungry, my mum took one for the team and tried the meal service. I can't remember what the two options were, but there were two options. Interestingly it was a multi-course meal in economy. The staff first displayed the starter tray.
Then came around to deliver the main course of chicken and rice, I believe.
Complimentary water was handed out, which I did choose to have.
The meal service wrapped up within an hour after departure.
The Lavatories
After the meal service, I headed to the bathroom to check it out. This is the nicest economy bathroom I have ever encountered in my years of flying. Since when do airlines put flowers in economy bathrooms???
The toilet was standard, nothing fancy there. However, it was spotless, even an hour after takeoff.
There were also tissues on the side, for those who are interested. Everything was spotless and nicely decorated!
EVEREST!
Approximately 50 minutes before landing, we began to see the Himalayas.
20 minutes later, the captain came on to announce that to the left of us, lay Mount Everest!
I'll insert a gallery with the photos I took from my camera. Goodness me, it was one of the most breathtaking views I've ever witnessed. There seems to be an ongoing trend in this trip😂.
It's crazy to think that we are only about 12,000 feet above Everest even though we were cruising at 38,000 feet!
Overall Service
Another aspect where Drukair shined was the service that was offered. I had a wonderful male FA working my aisle which I spoke to for a chunk of the flight. Here are some moments that stood out to me.
The meal service was at a great pace and very friendly.
The FA came over to sit beside me to tell me all about Bhutan for about 15 minutes on approach. We had a common interest in sneakers and we spoke for a while about his collection and mine.
Midway through the flight, I was speaking to him in the back where he offered to fix me a drink with the options of multiple wines, whiskey, or whatever else I desired.
Mints were given out to all economy passengers before landing. While this isn't a huge ordeal, the small aspects go a long way.
Soon enough the captain told everyone to take their seats for landing. I had been putting off the fact that I was a little scared for this landing as it is one of the most dangerous approaches in the world. We first had a steep left bank.
Following a bunch of twists and turns we flew over the airport into a valley.
Followed by a sharp right 180-degree banking. The flaps were down fully, I was scared out of my mind, it's a shame I didn't know what Mitakpa was yet😅.
We straightened out for about 15 seconds.
Still, the runway wasn't in view. The amygdala lit up like the fourth of July, my fear response kicked in. However, a sharp right turn and and an extremely sharp left bank later, we touched down into Paro, Bhutan.
Good heavens that was scary. We proceeded to make our way off the runway, looking back at the approach we just had. I give extraordinary credit to the 20 or so licensed pilots who land here. It takes immense skill. Imagine an ILS, it's more like a TLS, the Temples Landing System.
We saw a cute little ATC tower. The captain came on to make his announcement of welcome to Paro Bhutan. From what I've read, the flight deck says a prayer every time they land in Paro but I can't say for certain.
There are no jetbridges at Paro which meant having to go down the stairs. I loved this since I got to see our plane up close.
And the A320neo which I would be flying on soon up close!
Immigration didn't have much of a line, even if we were one of the last ones off the plane. It was a simple process that consisted of showing our visas and our passports. We exited the terminal in no time as the bags took about 15 minutes to be delivered.
Where the Aman staff, Chozang, and Pema were waiting to take us on the drive up to Thimphu.
However, you're going to have to wait on that review as I am in the process of writing how extraordinary this hotel was.
Final Thoughts
Drukair astounded me with how good it was to fly economy. It didn't feel like economy due to the multi-course meal, a row of 3 seats, and flowers in the bathroom. This was better than some business class flights I have had and adding on the wonderful FA I talked with, made for a perfect way to start our trip to Bhutan! If you think it can't get any better, stay tuned for the business class review to Bangkok soon!
Meal Service | 8/10 |
Seat 18A | 9/10 |
IFE | 8/10 |
Ground Experience | 7.5/10 |
Overall Service | 9.5/10 |
Total | 42/50 |
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