...someone felt it was necessary to identify the pilots as females.

Because someone thinks it's extraordinary that women could do skilled work.

Of course. Silly me.

Ya can't fly a plane without a joystick!

....isn't going to help those numbers.

I fly many times a year; I've never looked up & thought "Oh, we've got a WOMAN today!"
I just want them to be SOBER

who are certified to land at this airport, one of the most dangerous in the world.

Piloting is still a heavily male-dominated field. That is why it is pointed out.

You have to fly into the mountains without being able to see the runway.

wonderful views, but I might think twice about being under the path. It would be so easy for something to go wrong.

It must be a perfect day in other words.
It's not a good sign to see the copilot praying b4 landing either
P.S. On edit: 2nd video shows a hard-core, hard right b4 the final touchdown. Wow.

Love that miniscule room for error just short of the runway. Jebus!!!!

I was coming here to say something similar!

is Catholic, but I'm sure the gesture is similar). But, yes, it certainly seemed like she did a little prayer.

I'm no pilot but it does seem like ground control was giving directions at every single opportunity. Undoubtedly necessary. I wonder what the unfortunate incident history is there.

I bet they have dedicated pilots for that route.

REALLY? I also said it was highly doubtful she was Catholic. Geez. I was agreeing with YOU.

It looked like the Buddhist "Wah" gesture with the hands.

and her acknowledgment.

That was fun! And who says women can't drive.

Notice something different about the A319's controls? No yoke. The funny steering wheel like thing most folks are use to in front of pilot and copilot. Airbus is all sidestick now. A kind of joy stick on the pilot's left side, copilot's right. Throttles in the middle. Boeing is sticking with the old fashioned yoke for now. Significant debate over which is better. Both sides make good points.

Paro International Airport in Bhutan is known for its challenging approach through 18,000-foot mountains. Only around 50 pilots globally are certified to land here due to its small runway and lack of radar assistance.

15,000-foot mountains TOO, I might add!

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/science/why-are-only-50-pilots-certified-to-land-on-this-challenging-airport-know-reasons/articleshow/113694872.cms#:~:text=Paro%20International%20Airport%20in%20Bhutan,and%20lack%20of%20radar%20assistance.

Or does the geography render radar somehow less effective ? I can sort of imagine lots of problems with multiple reflections, but I would think modern radars could handle that ...

But, I also notice that ground control literally "walks" the pilots through every moment of their traverse over and around those mountains where, at one point, they don't seem to even be able to visualize the runway.

And, if you read the article the unexpected weather, fog, ice, hail, windshear, microbursts, etc. etc. that can come up so quickly in the area, requiring all landings to occur in the morning and in clear conditions at the start. Not my area of expertise by any means and nor will it be. But I can appreciate what it takes to land there. Yikes!

Are they letting us be pilots now? How extraordinary that a couple of ladies were allowed to do this!

Shocking I tell you, shocking!

Who knew women had hand/eye coordination!

It's a single runway and there is low success rate of a go-around because of the terrain. There is also the Princess Juliana Airport in Saint Maarten in the Caribbean, known for being just above beachgoers heads. There is one in Madiera where there are cliffs and ocean and it is turbulent at times, and that is just to name a few. I think for these kinds of airports, and I'm not a pilot, you have to get special training beyond what you would normally get to be allowed to fly to these places.

It looks like they retract into the console, but I'd think the first officer would want the yoke at the ready. Maybe the Captain was using her yoke, just slightly out of view of the camera.

for manual control on each side, right under the side window. The airplane is highly automated and most of the time it's controlled by the autopilot, based on a course loaded into the flight control computer. The direction and altitude can be changed using the dials along the top of the instrument panel (you can see the first officer changing these settings in the video). Most of the time the pilots don't use the side-stick, but a tricky approach like that one would have to be flown manually.

I don't know if that makes me feel any safer, making that approach into Paru.

And take-off is no picnic either. They have to circle over the runway to gain enough altitude to get over the mountains.

Very nice.

"Cooler than the other side of the pillow"