Govt mulls monitoring cell to help pvt airlines grow

FE Team | Published: March 10, 2018 22:08:10

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister AKM Shahjahan Kamal has said he will embark on setting up a monitoring cell at his ministry to help the country's private airlines grow further side by side with national flag carrier Biman.
"We are committed to helping the private sector to flourish our aviation sector and I would like to set up a monitoring cell in this regard," he said while speaking at the Customer Success Summit of US-Bangla Airlines, one of the leading private airlines of the country, at a local hotel in Cox's Bazar on Saturday, reports BSS.
The US-Bangla Airlines organised the summit with its all stakeholders, including nearly 800 travel agents from home and abroad.
Shahjahan Kamal said the government believes in the development of the aviation industry and it aims to uplift the country's economy towards turning Bangladesh into a middle-income nation.
He said the government is working to upgrade the Cox's Bazar airport into an international one to make the tourist town with the longest sea beach of the world into a single international tourist destination.
Currently wide-bodied aircraft like Boeing 737 is being operated at Cox's Bazar Airport after extension of its runway, inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year, he mentioned.
"We are now working to extend the runway up to 10,000 feet. After that, airlines can operate international flights here to give a boost to the local tourism industry," he added.
US-Bangla Airlines Managing Director Abdullah Al Mamun said US-Bangla Airlines is set to start flights to Guangzhou of China from April 3 next as the first ever any Bangladesh airlines to explore the Chinese destination.
Mentioning that presently US-Bangla Airlines has eight aircraft, four Boeing 737-800 ER and four Dash-Q 800 in its fleet, Mamun said they are planning to add eight more aircraft, including Boeing 777, to its fleet to explore more international destinations in the countries of Middle-East and Europe.
Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Benoit Prefontain, President of Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) Mahbub Morshed and Editor of Bangladesh Monitor Kazi Wahidul Alam also spoke on the occasion.
At present, US-Bangla Airlines is operating international flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Doha, Muscat, Kathmandu and Kolkata and flights to seven domestic destinations in Bangladesh.