Rashidul Hasan

Without completing all required procedures, Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to operate its first flight on the long awaited Dhaka-Toronto-Dhaka route tomorrow.

Bangladesh is at risk of losing its European export market for vegetables because the Explosive Detective System machine at the Dhaka airport has been inoperative for the last two weeks, causing massive shipment problems and huge financial losses.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has placed its fleet of Boeing 737 planes under surveillance after a jet crashed in China.

Around 25 to 30 officials of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the civil aviation ministry, and two ruling party lawmakers from the parliamentary body on the ministry will be on Biman’s “experimental commercial” flight on the Dhaka-Toronto-Dhaka route on March 26.  

India yesterday restored all currently valid regular (paper) visas, in a development that will be much cheered by Bangladeshis, who account for the highest number of tourist arrivals.

The jet fuel price has gone up for the 12th time in 16 months, in a development that is bound to cause further strain to migrant workers, who are struggling to foot the high airfares, particularly to the Middle-Eastern countries.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) has decided not to grant permission to any new airlines to operate flights from Dhaka due to a shortage of space at the terminal and apron areas at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).

Twenty-three tanneries that are causing high levels of pollution are set to be shut down, a parliamentary body said yesterday.

The central effluent treatment plant (CETP) at the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate with fundamental flaws and jaw-dropping inadequacies, reflects extremely negatively on how this project was planned, designed and implemented, said Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the environment, forest and climate change ministry.

Biman could lose its right to fly to Saudi Arabia for failing to operate with one general sales agent in the kingdom.

In the latest development, Biman Bangladesh Airlines yesterday said its online ticketing system will be re-launched on February 27 to modernise and facilitate passenger services.

The struggle of UAE-bound passengers at the Dhaka airport islikely to be over as the Gulf country issued a new travel advisory yesterday withdrawing the mandatory provision for Covid RT-PCR test at the airport within six hours before departure.

A Chinese company has proposed building a metro rail line in Chattogram and reclaiming land from the sea to build a 60-square km “smart city” in exchange for a share of the latter.

Seven months after the inauguration, the authorities could still not make the e-gates operational for e-passport holders at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, frustrating inbound and outbound passengers.

A parliamentary body yesterday came down heavily on Biman’s respective top officials for causing damage to the tune of Tk 1,000 crore to the interiors of eight aircraft while transporting cargo since March 2020.

A parliamentary body yesterday asked the environment directorate to shut down the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate, as the joint management committee (JMC) that runs the estate failed to comply with environmental standards.

A relatively new De Havilland Canada Dash-8 aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines has been grounded since February 2 due to “damaged engines caused by pilot error”.

The jet fuel price has gone up from Tuesday, the 11th hike in 15 months, dealing a fresh blow to the struggling aviation industry at a time when it was getting back up on its feet with the normalisation of air travel once again.

The government while closing 25 state-owned jute mills a year and a half ago had pledged to reopen those, but a parliamentary committee yesterday recommended those be not reopened under government management.

Poisoned chalice -- is what sums up best Bangladesh’s aviation industry.