MD says using leased ones brings no profit
Biman Bangladesh Airlines will use its own aircraft to carry Hajj pilgrims from next year instead of using leased aircraft which brings no profit, said its Managing Director Kevin John Steele yesterday.
Keeping to the trend of past years, several Hajj flights on the sole leased Boeing 747 faced disruption this year due to delays in obtaining permission from the Saudi civil aviation authority to operate there.
Addressing a press briefing at Biman’s head office in the capital, Kevin announced resuming from December 9 operations on the Dhaka-Yangon route, which has been suspended since October 2006, initially with two flights a week.
Moreover, domestic flights, all of which, except Chittagong and Sylhet where international flights operate, has been suspended since September, will resume in December, he said.
Kevin, also Biman’s chief executive officer, had failed to run the scheduled Dhaka-Yangon and domestic flights from November due to a shortage of aircraft.
He also stated that Biman made a profit of around Tk 40 crore in September which is Tk 17 crore more than the expected profit of the July-September period.
Kevin also announced launching Biman’s Frequent Flyer Programme under which the distance flown by a passenger can be redeemed for air travel and other goods and services.
-With The Daily Star input
