Bhutan's new airport aims to transform the country forever
Summary
Bhutan is creating a mindfulness city in Gelephu, with a new international airport designed by Bjarke Ingels Group.
The planned carbon-negative wooden airport could potentially accommodate 123 flights daily and 1.3 million passengers annually.
Unlike challenging Paro International Airport, Gelephu's flatter terrain will allow larger jets and longer runways.
The country's king has described the airport as essential for the mindfulness city project and national security.
Visitors to Bhutan currently pay a $100 daily sustainable development fee under its high-value, low-impact tourism model. Mindfulness is one of the most popular concepts in the wellness industry right now — there are hotels, spas and classes all dedicated to its pursuit.
But the Himalayan nation of Bhutan is taking the idea 20 steps further by building an entire mindfulness city.
Gelephu, in southern Bhutan near the border with India, has been selected as the site of this city, although details have been scant about the project.
Until now. The Bjarke Ingels Group architecture firm has unveiled its design for the upcoming Gelephu airport, offering the most insights into the city and its overall vision seen to date. The renderings show a series of wooden diamond-shaped structures, all of which are modular, making it easier to update or expand the airport in the future.
Even on a good day, airports can be stressful places — delays, lost luggage, missed connections, long lines. So how can an airport embody a concept like mindfulness?
According to Ingels, it's about utilizing natural elements in the design and embracing Bhutan's ethos of 'gross national happiness,' which takes residents' well-being into account for measuring quality of life.
'An airport is the first and last impression you get of a place you visit,' Ingels said in a statement.
'The airport architecture is composed of modular mass timber frames providing flexibility and expandability, resembling a stylized mountain range at a distance… all the mass timber members are carved and colored according to traditional craft, adorned with three types of dragons representing the past, present and future of Bhutan. The result is traditional yet avant-garde, forward-reaching and rooted.'
The airport, like the country, will be carbon-negative, its designers say, and use rooftop solar panels for power.
Gelephu International Airport will measure 731,946 square feet and have capacity for 123 flights a day, with a maximum of 1.3 million passengers annually.
That may be peanuts compared to mega-airports like London Heathrow or New York's JFK, but it's a huge figure for the landlocked country of Bhutan, which received just 316,000 tourists in 2019.
Currently, all foreign visitors fly into Paro International Airport (PBH), near the capital of Thimpu. Due to Paro's challenging location between two Himalayan peaks, strong monsoon-season winds and lack of runway lighting, only a few small aircraft a day can fly in or out, all of which are short-hauls from nearby Asian cities like New Delhi and Bangkok.
Gelephu is already home to a small domestic airport, but it was chosen as the site for the new international airport due to its flatter terrain, which means there will be space for longer runways that can accommodate larger jets.
Its convenient location near India — Bhutan's primary diplomatic ally and trading partner — also makes Gelephu a strategic location for rail and road links.
Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck has been the driving force behind the Gelephu Mindfulness City project.
'This airport is essential for the success of the GMC as a business hub, and it is also a critical lifeline for Bhutan's national security, especially for a landlocked country,' the king said in a statement.
The country, which has a population of about 750,000, is credited with pioneering 'high value, low impact' tourism. Visitors to the country must pay a daily sustainable development fee of $100, which goes toward funding health care, education and other public services in Bhutan.
There is no confirmed opening date for Gelephu International.
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