The New Nation - Internet Edition

ECONOMIC REPORTER

Best Air will fly to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok by mid-March and April respectively.

Besides, Best Air will be flying to Chennai, Kolkata and Kunming in China from April.

Haider Uzzaman, Chairman of Best Aviation Ltd, the parent company of Best Air, said the airline is expecting final approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, to operate international flights to Thailand and Malaysia by the middle of next month.

"We have already received permission from the Thai aviation authority to operate daily flights on the Dhaka-Bangkok route. We expect to operate flights on the route by mid-March," he said.

Haider said air traffic growth on the Dhaka-Bangkok route is about five per cent a year.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines, GMG Airlines, Thai Airways and Druk Air are operating flights on the Dhaka-Bangkok route.

Besides, Haider Uzzaman said Best Air will operate seven flights a week to Kuala Lumpur from early March and expect a 80 to 90 per cent load factor. Our 737-200 Boeing aircraft and crew are all ready for the first flight to Kuala Lumpur.

There are an estimated 300,000 Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia while about 40,000 Bangladeshi tourists visit Malaysia a year, making it a lucrative sector for Best Air that has plans to complement Malaysia Airlines' (MAS) service to Bangladesh.

"We can help the Malaysian government build up tourism, transport and manpower, and there are also about 2,000 Bangladeshis under the second home programme in Malaysia.

"In addition, we can help MAS in terms of long haul flights, because we can carry traffic to Kuala Lumpur and beyond as we have an interline agreement," said Haider Uzzaman.

Best Air's right to fly to Kuala Lumpur will be a bilateral arrangement as, in return, Malaysia's long haul low cost carrier AirAsia X will fly to Dhaka soon.

Besides the Dhaka-KL route, Best Air will also be flying to Bangkok, Chennai, Kolkata and Kunming in China from April.

Best Air will be the latest domestic carrier to fly any international route after Biman Bangladesh Airlines and GMG Airlines. However, the number of domestic airlines now in operation in Bangladesh is five.

Entry of Best Air, which began operation in 1999 as a helicopter operator, is expected to raise competition in the Bangladesh aviation market that grows by 8 percent on an average a year.

This private airline launched its passenger flight in mid-January with a 118-seater Boeing 737-200 on the domestic route. The carrier is also expected to increase its fleet through adding another Boeing 737 this month.

Haider Uzzaman also indicated that the Best Air has plans to expand its business to India and China.