GMG Airlines, the country’s largest private air carrier, yesterday added one more Boeing 767-300 aircraft to its fleet. The company plans to use the second 250-seater Boeing, to enhance connectivity to the Middle East. With this, GMG’s fleet size now reaches eight. As part of its target to become the most preferred airline in the region, the company also has plans to add more aircraft to its existing fleet, so that it could connect new destinations.
According to company officials, GMG has leased the new aircraft from GE Commercial Aviation Services, for 36 months.
Shayan Fazlur Rahman, the chairman of GMG, along with Shahab Sattar, managing director, received the aircraft at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka yesterday. GM Quader, minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism, and Salman F Rahman, vice-chairman, Beximco Group, were also present on the occasion. “With the addition of the new aircraft, GMG would connect new routes, to serve the growing number of customers, maintaining flight schedules efficiently,” Sattar said, while addressing the media at the induction ceremony.
Following the launch of its new logo, GMG Airlines has brought in substantial changes in its marketing strategies, he said. Travellers could also feel the overall improvement in its service, he added. “Local private airlines are playing a greater role in this sector. This makes communications easier for a large number of Bangladeshis working in the Middle East,” said Quader.
Rahman expressed his hope that the airlines will grow bigger in the near future, adding, “Another Boeing will be added in July and new international routes will be introduced.”
Addition of aircraft certainly reassures passengers’ trust on the airline, said Asif Ahmed, head of marketing and communications.
GMG Airlines, owned by Beximco, started operations on April 6, 1998. Starting with domestic services, it launched its first international flight between Chittagong and Kolkata, in September 2004.
With eight international and five domestic destinations, GMG Airlines flights fly 234 times per week. GMG’s international routes connect Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Karachi, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah and Riyadh, with Bangladesh. On the domestic front, it connects Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Sylhet and Jessore. GMG now operates three Canadian Bombardier Dash-8 on domestic and Kolkata routes. Besides, it has one Boeing 767-300 ER and three McDonnell Douglas aircrafts.
