Problems have cropped up over granting permission to operate flights by two Middle East-based airlines on Sylhet-UAE route.
The two low-cost airlines are Air Arabia, which is based in Sharjah and Fly Dubai, based in Dubai.
Of the two airlines, Air Arabia was designated by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) of UAE to operate flight as per commitment made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to the UAE in October 2014.
In a meeting with Ras al-Khaimah ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, according to a letter written by the GCAA to the Bangladesh Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, the Prime Minister agreed to the proposal to operate regular flights to Sylhet.
On the other hand, Fly Dubai does not have any permission to operate flight of its own. Rather it wanted to operate flights to Sylhet in the name of 'code-sharing' with Bangladesh's private airline Regent Airways. By this time, Fly Dubai operated one flight in Sylhet on April 01 this year without any agreement with Bangladesh Biman for ground handling. However, the airliner was not allowed to operate anymore flight on this route.
The government is yet to give permission to Air Arabia to operate low-cost flights to Bangladesh. The permission is reportedly under process.
Meanwhile, a letter from Finance Minister AMA Muhith to Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon has created new complexities as the former has requested for resumption of the operation of Fly Dubai on Dubai-Sylhet route.
Mr Muhith also said Fly Dubai service to Sylhet was an initiative from the UAE which was made as per the 'request of the prime minister'.
But correspondence between GCAA and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), obtained by this reporter, shows that GCAA director general (DG) Omar Bin Ghalib particularly mentioned Air Arabia as UAE-designated airline. Air Arabia also expressed its willingness to commence flights to and from Sylhet with effect from March 29, 2015. The CAAB was requested to approve a schedule to this effect.
The GCAA DG also wrote a letter to Mr Rashed Khan Menon. When asked about the letter of the finance minister, civil aviation and tourism secretary Khorshed Alam Chowdhury told the FE Saturday that the issue was different from that of Ras al-Khaimah commitment made by the PM. Fly Dubai operated under the code-sharing arrangement with Regent Airways.
When asked whether Fly Dubai completed the necessary procedure before flight operation, the secretary claimed it had certainly followed proper rules.
Regarding flight operation permission to Air Arabia, Mr Alam advised this reporter to talk to the CAAB chairman.
Despite repeated attempts to contact the chairman over phone, he did not respond.
Seeking anonymity, a CAAB official said Regent Airways has sold its permission to Fly Dubai to operate flights on Sylhet-Dubai route in the name of code-sharing.
Conventionally, code-sharing is done between two airlines where they usually share seats in their convenient destinations. In this case, code-sharing is not applicable as Regent Airways does not have any flight from Dubai to other destinations.
When contacted, officials of the general sales agent (GSA) of Air Arabia in Bangladesh declined to make any comment on the issue mentioning they were not authorised to talk.
Regent Airways is the Bangladeshi GSA of Fly Dubai. No representative was available for making comment.
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