April 30: The Druk Air had to suddenly change the flight schedule for safety reasons due to the strong winds in the afternoon. It has however left many tour operators in the lurch as they scrambled to change hotel and flight bookings.

The sudden change in flight timing has affected tour agencies the most. Tour operators say they have lost business and money.

“The rescheduling of the Druk air flights has affected everybody including tours and ticketing. Many passengers, especially on the connecting flights, were pushed back by a day or two. It was a huge problem since it came at the last moment. We had to hand over few passengers to Druk Air to take care of their accommodation and meals,” said one of the tour operators.

The Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators (ABTO) has asked the Druk Air to help confirm tourists who have been affected by the change in flight schedule. The Druk Air is arranging accommodation and meals for affected tourists.

ABTO’s General Secretary Sonam Dorji said the change in the flight schedule has disrupted tourism business. He said tour agencies have been receiving complaints from off shore agents.

The Druk Air’s Officiating Managing Director said they had to reschedule the flights suddenly for safety reasons after pilots raised concerns about the strong winds in the afternoon making landing risky.

The rescheduling has also affected the Tourism Council of Bhutan. Joint Director Thuji Nadik said the council will have to refund the tariff paid by tourists who had to cancel their visit.

“We have not yet refunded but the Tourism Council is working out the figures. As of today, 124 clients have cancelled. Roughly we will have to pay about 56,420 $. This is just preliminary figures. Numbers might go up because we are not yet into May,” said Thuji Nadik.

The Tourism Council of Bhutan is also waiving off the royalty for a day or two for tourists affected by the change. 285 tourists were affected by the change in the light schedule.

Druk Air flights were rescheduled from April 10 to May 14. The flight schedules will be back to normal from May 15.