History records that construction of Paro International Airport was completed and inaugurated in the year 1968.
Bhutan’s National Flag Carrier - Druk Air - was created in 1981 - primarily as a bold statement of nationhood - but with commercial functions.
Exactly 15 years later, Paro International Airport began to function as the country’s one and only international airport - upon Druk Air starting to operate its commercial flights beginning February of 1983 - between Paro and Calcutta, India.
Sadly, even after 56 years of its establishment, Paro International Airport remained without a Flight Information Display System (FIDS) - thus forcing me to blog about the shameful state of affairs on Sunday, June 9, 2024 under the title “The World’s Most Inhospitable International Airport”. The blog can be read at:
Subsequently, sometime in August of 2024, the Department of Air Transport announced the installation of the much-needed Flight Information Display System (FIDS) with the following notification:
The announcement of the epochal event of the birth of FIDS at Paro International Airport during August, 2024
My sense of relief that a useful service has finally been put in place after over half a century, was short-lived. On 1st March, 2025, the display of information on the Paro International Airport’s FIDS read as follows:
The information displayed on the top right hand of the FIDS shows that the system has not been updated since 19th February, 2025.
Instead of serving a useful purpose, this FIDS has the potential to misinform and mislead. So, perhaps we are better off without it!
You are always with a story well narrated, truthful, that could also be funny. Yes I saw that too and for a senior citizen who can’t see well the information posted at Paro Airport on 1st March 2025 could have been misleading and of concern. Did I miss my guest???
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