Novoair, a new private airline, is set to spread its wings tomorrow on domestic routes with promises of better services and competitive fares.
Staring from Dhaka, the carrier will initially operate four flights to Chittagong, one flight to Cox’s Bazar and one to Jessore.
The airline will soon add two more destinations — Rajshahi and Syedpur, as it plans to increase the number of daily flights to 10 in two months, said Mofizur Rahman, managing director of the airline.
“Demand for domestic flights is on the rise due to a gradual increment of people’s income,” said Rahman. “But the local airlines are yet to tap the full potential. So we want to give another option for the local air travellers.”
Novoair intends to provide premium services for business and leisure travellers in Bangladesh and to maintain on-time schedule, Rahman said.
The carrier will operate its passenger flights with two 49-seater Embraer EMB-145 jets.
The fares for a one-way trip to Chittagong will be Tk 4,949 for early bookings and Tk 6,949 for regular bookings.
One-way fare on the Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar route is Tk 5,728 to Tk 7,728, while a one-way ticket to Jessore will cost Tk 3,000 to Tk 4,500.
Air traffic has been gradually increasing on local routes in the recent years, as business and industrial activities expanded depending on the booming domestic tourism.
Local airlines carried 6.27 lakh passengers on domestic routes in 2011, up by 20 percent than the previous year, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh.
At present, three local carriers — Biman Bangladesh Airlines, United Airways and Regent Airways — operate flights to different domestic destinations. Regent is the market leader in terms of passengers carried by the local airlines.
Novoair may launch international flights after one year of domestic operation, Rahman said.
Since the beginning of its journey in 2007, Novoair was engaged in multiple facets of aviation services, like representing China Southern Airline and Tiger Airways, Singapore as general sales agent for Bangladesh.
-With The Daily Star input
