BD skies beckon EPIC Air, US-Bangla

Shah Alam Nur | Published: June 20, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

Two more new private airlines are set to take to the skies of Bangladesh soon taking the advantage of the growing demand on the domestic front.
With long-term planning to operate flights on international routes, the US-Bangla Airlines and the Epic Air would soon launch their domestic commercial flights, concerned officials said.
The new airlines are entering the domestic market at a time, when the national flag carrier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, is also trying to resume their flights on all domestic routes within a short time.
The new airlines initially intend to operate flights to destinations like Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Sylhet and Jessore and also have a plan to fly to Saidpur and Rajshahi.
"The airline passengers always want timely and comfortable journey, the privet airline companies in the country are always keen to provide best services to the passengers, so the private airlines are witnessing an increasing rush", said Mr Imran Asif, Chief Executive Officer of Epic Air, a consortium of some local firms.
He told the FE that the better services and management of the private airlines were leading to expansion of the business.
The Epic Air CEO said the their company had applied to the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) seeking a no-objection certificate (NoC) for its commercial operation and that they were expecting to get it within a short time.
He said they wanted to start their commercial operation by the end of 2014. They were also planning to go for international routes within a short time, he added.
Mr Golam Towhid, Executive Director of US-Bangla Airlines Ltd, said they intended to connect new destinations in the country.
He said the US-Bangla Airlines Ltd was looking to launch commercial flights within next one month with two Bombardier Dash 8-Q400s.
Their two 76-seat Dash 8-Q400 turboprop aircraft made by Canada's Bombardier Aerospace already reached the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
They had also a plan to expand business on international routes to Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Yangon etc, he said.
An official of Biman said the national flag carrier was planning to fully resume domestic flights on seven routes. It suspended all domestic flights on September 19, 2012, in order to maintain international schedules.
At present, there are three local private airlines-United Airways (BD) Limited, Regent Airways and Novo Air.
Of them, the United Airways (BD) and the Regent Airways are now operating their flights on both domestic and international routes. The other local private airline-Novo Airways-recently received the green light from the civil aviation authority to introduce international flights.
According to the CAAB, a total of 0.52 million domestic air passengers were there in 2011 while 0.58 million in 2012 and 0.64 million in 2013.