New air deals likely to help pvt airlines spread wings
Saturday, 2 February 2008
FE Report
Bangladesh will sign a slew of air deals and revise some existing ones with key countries across the globe as it moves to spread the wings of local airlines abroad, a senior official said Friday.
The government will revise existing air services agreements with India this month and Saudi Arabia and Oman later this year while it plans to sign fresh deal with China, Jordan and Canada, civil aviation secretary Sheikh Altaf Ali said.
"We want to sign new air services deals with the countries where we have seen major growth in air traffic in the recent months," Ali said.
"We want to increase the number of flights there and also make some of the deals multiple-designated so that the private airlines can fly to these growth areas," Ali said.
The move was taken after the entry of at least three airlines in the last five months. On Thursday, Royal Aviation made its debut as the fourth private airlines in the country.
The government has removed key policy obstacles in November last year, making it easier for the airlines to hire aircraft and fly to overseas destination immediately without flying a mandatory six months to domestic routes.
But the private airlines have urged the government that unless it revises the existing air services deals with key countries, they cannot survive alone on domestic route.
Analysts said domestic aviation routes in Bangladesh are so small that all the private and state-owned airlines have been losing money.
"As far as air travel is concerned Bangladesh is a very small country. There is no way private airlines can break-even in Bangladesh by relying only on domestic operation," independent analyst Imran Asif said.
"They need to fly abroad, especially to the destinations where air traffic are growing fast. The government should move quickly to help them. Else, the foreign airlines will grab the market," he said.
Ali said the government already revised 12 air services agreement with key countries last year. Early this month it signed a deal with Kenya, the gateway to eastern African countries.
Till January, the country has signed air services deals with 45 countries, although bulk of the traffic goes to the Gulf and South East Asia.
"Our aim is to see a vibrant aviation sector. We want everyone to grow and grab new opportunities," Ali said.
The secretary will fly to New Delhi next week to revise a 13-year-old old deal with India.
Officials said the both the sides are looking to increase flight frequencies following huge growth of air traffic between the two countries.
Largest private carrier GMG welcomed the government's move to revise and sign air deals.
"We want to go a lot of places. But we cannot go as the existing deals stand as obstacles," Erfan Haq, general manager of GMG, said.
The GMG has appealed for a deal with Canada, as nearly 100,000 largely affluent Bangladeshis have now settled there.
The company also wants to go to Saudi Arabia, the biggest destination for Bangladeshis.
But the existing deal only allows the state-owned carriers to make the flights, although a Bangladeshi worker has to wait at least three weeks to avail a ticket to the Kingdom.
"We also want to increase the number of flights to India. We hope the upcoming India-Bangladesh air services talk would bear some fruits for us," Haq said.
The government has recently allowed Best Air to fly to the southern Chinese city of Kunming. Currently only the state-owned China Eastern Airlines operates in the profitable route.
The company, majority-owned by a Kuwait company, has urged the government to revise the existing air deal soon so that it can launch its international operation soon, an official said.
Bangladesh will sign a slew of air deals and revise some existing ones with key countries across the globe as it moves to spread the wings of local airlines abroad, a senior official said Friday.
The government will revise existing air services agreements with India this month and Saudi Arabia and Oman later this year while it plans to sign fresh deal with China, Jordan and Canada, civil aviation secretary Sheikh Altaf Ali said.
"We want to sign new air services deals with the countries where we have seen major growth in air traffic in the recent months," Ali said.
"We want to increase the number of flights there and also make some of the deals multiple-designated so that the private airlines can fly to these growth areas," Ali said.
The move was taken after the entry of at least three airlines in the last five months. On Thursday, Royal Aviation made its debut as the fourth private airlines in the country.
The government has removed key policy obstacles in November last year, making it easier for the airlines to hire aircraft and fly to overseas destination immediately without flying a mandatory six months to domestic routes.
But the private airlines have urged the government that unless it revises the existing air services deals with key countries, they cannot survive alone on domestic route.
Analysts said domestic aviation routes in Bangladesh are so small that all the private and state-owned airlines have been losing money.
"As far as air travel is concerned Bangladesh is a very small country. There is no way private airlines can break-even in Bangladesh by relying only on domestic operation," independent analyst Imran Asif said.
"They need to fly abroad, especially to the destinations where air traffic are growing fast. The government should move quickly to help them. Else, the foreign airlines will grab the market," he said.
Ali said the government already revised 12 air services agreement with key countries last year. Early this month it signed a deal with Kenya, the gateway to eastern African countries.
Till January, the country has signed air services deals with 45 countries, although bulk of the traffic goes to the Gulf and South East Asia.
"Our aim is to see a vibrant aviation sector. We want everyone to grow and grab new opportunities," Ali said.
The secretary will fly to New Delhi next week to revise a 13-year-old old deal with India.
Officials said the both the sides are looking to increase flight frequencies following huge growth of air traffic between the two countries.
Largest private carrier GMG welcomed the government's move to revise and sign air deals.
"We want to go a lot of places. But we cannot go as the existing deals stand as obstacles," Erfan Haq, general manager of GMG, said.
The GMG has appealed for a deal with Canada, as nearly 100,000 largely affluent Bangladeshis have now settled there.
The company also wants to go to Saudi Arabia, the biggest destination for Bangladeshis.
But the existing deal only allows the state-owned carriers to make the flights, although a Bangladeshi worker has to wait at least three weeks to avail a ticket to the Kingdom.
"We also want to increase the number of flights to India. We hope the upcoming India-Bangladesh air services talk would bear some fruits for us," Haq said.
The government has recently allowed Best Air to fly to the southern Chinese city of Kunming. Currently only the state-owned China Eastern Airlines operates in the profitable route.
The company, majority-owned by a Kuwait company, has urged the government to revise the existing air deal soon so that it can launch its international operation soon, an official said.