Well this has to be one of the most interesting new route announcements in quite some time (thanks to Samuel for flagging this)…
Continue reading: Random: Drukair Launches Singapore To Palau Flights
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Well Drukair probably had an underutilized aircraft with an extra 12-hours to kill. Why not use it to fly a 'fifth-freedom - wet lease' to some remote location w/o an airline! Quite innovative actually.
Bhutan and Palau actually have something in common that might attract the same types of visitors. Both are small countries with incredible natural beauty that require a bit of physical effort (hiking in Bhutan, diving or at least snorkeling in Palau) to appreciate. Both countries recognize that mass tourism can ruin it, and are actively trying to protect their environment. So I can see how the same kind of people would want to visit both Bhutan and Palau. No giant buses with loud obnoxious tour groups littering and spitting everywhere they go. I've been lucky to have visited both countries - can't recommend both of them strongly enough.
Even weirder is this isn't Drukair first non Bhutan flight out of Singapore , they operate Paro to Guwahati in India to Singapore to Dili in East-Timor !
Singapore to Dili used to be operated by Silkair but that arrangement ended
Very interesting indeed! I think Delta used to have a normal flight schedule to ROR, maybe? I went to Palau once, but it was on a charter flight from Seoul filled with divers. Best diving in my life and I hope to go back again!
Good god, the level of ignorance so proudly on display here...is just depressing.
"Palau is an unspoiled island nation..."
Palau is hardly "unspoiled". It's over-touristed and quite "spoiled" by mass Chinese tourism, with many daily nonstop flights from all over China, and is heavily marketed to Chinese as a cheap, care-free fun-in-the-sun destination - think Cancun for China. Also plenty of daily flights from Korea, Japan, around southeast Asia, and beyond, though it's the impact of mass Chinese package tours that is most ruinous.
"Both countries recognize that mass tourism can ruin it..."
That horse has left the barn years ago. Plenty of "ruin" for anyone to see on display every day in Palau. Cheap, packaged tourism has done that.
It won't take SQ to dump a daily 359 on the route if Drukair makes a go of it.
Janice - you need a geography lesson. There are no flights from China to ROR.
Get your facts straight before you go off and try and make a point
Are you confusing Palau with Pulau, the Malay/Indonesian word for ‘island’? Or with Pulao in the Philippines?
The fact there are no flights from China has nothing to do with geography. There are,however, flights to Taipei.
And still they harbour the degenerate terrorist pig, Ismail Haniyeh.
Qatar is disgusting.
Palau is an amazing place to visit, great food, people, snorkelling. I go a lot for work from Bangkok or Fiji and usually though Guam then Japan or Taiwan. This will be great for a weekly.
It’s because Palau is one of very few nations left that does not recognize the communist PRC but establishes diplomatic ties with Taiwan instead.
That is really outdated news. Palau has diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Both countries have an embassy in the other country. The People's Republic of China tried to force Palau to break diplomatic relations with Taiwan by sending lots of tourists there as a carrot then, when the tactic was not successful, banned travel to Palau. For several years including the present, tourists from China cannot go to Palau.
https://www.palau-airport.com/flights-schedule
ROR has been 0 and 2 flights a day on UA, twice a week on CI to Taiwan, and about 15 flights a month combined by 2 Cambodian airlines. 2 days a week, zero scheduled or chartered flights.
ROR is the only significant airport in Palau.
I was wondering where Jance got the information that there are many daily non-stop flights from China. He/She is probably confusing two different places
This reminds me of that time I made up a flag carrier for Palau. I imagined the route map to look a lot like Air Niugini’s. I think Palau could use a flag carrier. I remember there was this airline called Palau Pacific Airlines several years ago; whatever happened to it?
Druk Air also operates a weekly flight to Dili on behalf of a Timorese carrier as a wet lease if I remember correctly.
Tom, dude you know nothing. Sure flights from China stopped during the pandemic, but they are coming back. China was something like 60% of all tourists to Palau before the pandemic, and they are coming back albeit slowly. Lots of Japanese too.