The Barisal airport is going to become operative for commercial passenger flights on Thursday by resuming domestic flights of United Airways on the Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka route.
The Airport has turned into an abandoned cattle-grazing field in the absence
of flight operation since May 5, 2009.On 28 September, 2008, the United Airways, a private airliner, tried to operate air service on the Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka route, but suspending the service on 5 May, 2009, it shifted to international routes.
Qamrul Islam, assistant general manager, United Airways, said 66-seated ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop short-haul regional airliner built by the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR, and a 37-seated Bombardier Dash-8-100, a twin-engine medium-ranged turboprop airliner introduced by de Havilland Canada planes, have been selected to operate weekly two flights on this route.
The flights would be operative from Dhaka end at 5:00pm and 10:40am and from Barisal end at 5:50pm and 11:30am Thursday and Sunday with one-way fare of Tk 3,000-5,000 for a 67 aeronautical miles of 30 minutes trip on this route, the United Airways sources said.
United Airways office at the Barisal city center will arrange transportation from and to Airport.
The inaugural ceremony of the resumption of United Airways flights on the Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka route would be held at Concourse Hall of the Barisal airport at 11:45 am Thursday.
Faruk Khan, commerce minister, Captain Tasbirul Ahmed Choudhury, chairman and managing director, Group Captain (Rtd) Khurshid Alam Chowdhury, revenue director of United Airways, are expected to attend the ceremony.
Md Hanif Gazi, aerodrome officer and in-charge of the airport, and
Safiqul Islam, security chief of the airport, said the airport was ready to operate passenger flight.
Barisal Airport sources said an air strip on fifty acres of land was built in late sixties for operating pesticide spraying planes of agriculture department at Rahamatpur in Babuganj some 17 kilometers off the city.
-With New Age input
