Biman set to resume domestic flights by Dec

State carrier Biman is going to resume domestic flights by December this year after seven years of suspention, an official said.
The official said the national flag carrier has already finalised the lease process for two Dash-8-Q-400 aircraft from Egypt to serve the domestic destinations, most of which were closed in 2007.
The 76-seater turboprop to be procured on a 5-year dry lease is expected to be added to fleet by November or early next month.
The next generation aircraft, suitable for short-distance routes, is seen as financially viable as they consume less fuel and cheaper to maintain.
Officials said a 5-member team from Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd inspected the aircraft and submitted the report to the Biman board. The board had earlier approved the proposal for the aircraft.
This is Biman's seventh attempt to collect turboprop aircraft for resuming flights on its domestic routes along with some other regional ones. Currently, it has no small aircraft to carry passengers on domestic routes.
Biman floated the request for proposal (RFP) several times to lease two aircraft, but response from any company was not positive.
In 2012, the national airliner suspended all of its domestic flights after folding four routes in 2007, worsened by bloated losses and prompted by the need for maintaining international schedules.
Presently, it operates domestic flights on a limited number of routes including Dhaka-Chittagong-Dhaka and Dhaka-Sylhet-Dhaka with wide-bodied aircraft through its connecting flights operating on international routes.
Biman has been under pressure for long to resume its operation on the domestic routes, which have been experiencing a pick-up in air traffic in recent years with demand coming from business and domestic travellers.
In August, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism also asked the Biman authorities to start operating domestic flights in two months. Biman officials also pledged to re-launch all domestic routes in two months.
Former civil aviation minister GM Quader came under fire from lawmakers in the last parliament as he declined to reopen the domestic routes. He said domestic operations would not be financially viable.
According to officials, the government has already taken steps to renovate the country's five airports-Rajshahi, Saidpur, Cox's Bazar, Jessore and Barisal-as it seeks to lure domestic travellers with considerable disposable income.
Besides Biman, four private airlines--United Airways, Novo Air, Regent Airways and US-Bangla Airlines - are currently operating domestic flights.
The airliners are operating domestic flights from Dhaka to Chittagong, Sylhet, Jessore, Cox's Bazar, Saidpur, Rajshahi and Barisal.
 

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