The Bhutanese Leading the way.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, the national airline, Drukair created history in Bhutan by operating its first ever all-female crew from Paro to Bangkok via Bagdogra on 8th March. The Captain, First Officer, engineer, cabin crew, push back team, check-in, catering and other ground staff were all females. The flight KB130 flew to Bangkok via Bagdogra with an Airbus 319 aircraft with 108 passengers on board.
The flight was under the command of Captain Ugyen Dema, who has been flying with Drukair since 2006, with Sr. First Officer Sonam Lhamo and flight engineer Sonam Deki Tshering. Sonam Deki Tshering is the first female licensed aircraft engineer in Bhutan.
As well as marking International Women’s Day, 8 March is also the anniversary of the first woman to receive a pilot’s license.
One hundred and eight years after Elise Raymonde Deroche’s milestone achievement, Drukair has three female cockpit crew for its first female operated flight. Drukair employs 168 women who constitute 35.44% of its total workforce. Through this initiative, Drukair said it hopes to inspire more women to get into the aviation industry in the future.
“We are immensely proud that we have women staff in every aspect of our aviation field. Women are an integral part of our success story from the start and with this dedicated flight we honor and celebrate their indispensable contribution to Drukair and the aviation industry in Bhutan,” said the CEO of Drukair, Tandi Wangchuk.
To commemorate the day, Drukair also celebrated with all its women passengers flying on the Paro to Bangkok flight with a lucky draw contest. A scratch card was distributed to all its women passengers and three winners received prizes from the airline.
