Biman not launching direct flight on Dhaka-Toronto route

Dhaka: Biman Bangladesh airlines will not launch direct flight services on Dhaka-Toronto route as now they have found it commercially impracticable.

Representatives of the national flag carrier on April 1 said that the long-waited flight will be operated with a stopover in any of the European or Asian countries, instead, for getting extra passengers and refuelling.

'Because of the stopover, we will be able to refuel the aircraft and get extra passengers from that destination. It will make the route commercially viable,' said Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, Managing Director and CEO of Biman.

This way the operational cost of flights on Dhaka-Toronto route will be reduced. In turn, the carrier will be able to cut the airfare of the flight and build competitiveness with other foreign airlines operating on the route, added Biman MD.

Earlier, on March 26, Biman made history by operating an 'experimental commercial' flight on Dhaka-Toronto-Dhaka route amid heavy criticism from everyone as the passengers included 35 to 40 government officials and two MPs who flew at the expense of public money.

Besides the officials and lawmakers, 36 general passengers boarded the plane from Dhaka and only six were on the flight back, said reports.

Mahbub Jahan Khan, Director (Corporate Planning and Training) of Biman, at a press conference stated that the direct fight cost around BDT 4 crore.

Biman operated Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for the world's second longest direct flight (experimental) on the route that took 16-18 hours, after Singapore-New York.

Biman has formed a committee to identify which destination will be commercially suitable for the national flag carrier for the stopover, mentioned Biman MD.

He added, they were considering stopover in Germany or any other European country or Tashkent.

'We have already set up a Biman office in Canada and a process is also underway to appoint general sales agent. We will fix all those matters before launching of the commercial flight by June,' he assured.

Also the Biman chief mentioned that they were trying to get the fifth freedom privilege from Canadian authorities.

This will allow Biman the right to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one's own country. 'If we can avail this, this route will be economically viable,' Mostafa Kamal concluded.

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