Bhutan formally placed a request for the two routes, Igay and Taray in the east and west, to directly fly out and in from the GIA in October 2024.
Discussions have been going on between both sides since then, and there is optimism on both sides that this will eventually come through though it may take some time.
The latest development on this front is that both the countries are in the process of jointly drafting an important overall Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will then be the template for moving forward on the GIA routes and more.
FIR
The most important component of the MOU currently being discussed by both countries is on the Flight Information Region (FIR) over Bhutan.
While the airspace above Bhutan is the country’s sovereign airspace, given the comparatively late entry of civil aviation to Bhutan and the limited capacity of the past, Bhutan is yet to list the airspace above Bhutan under the FIR of Bhutan with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).