The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) is set to give approval to the ultra-low-cost Abu Dhabi-based airline Wizz Air to commercially carry passengers to and from Dhaka under an aviation trade agreement between the two countries.
As part of the initiative, a high-level delegation from aviation regulatory body of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), is set to visit Dhaka from May 15-16.
However, aviation industry sources claimed CAAB did not consult domestic airlines on the decision and that the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry is unaware of the matter.
CAAB and the GCAA delegation are set to finalize the expansion of the aviation agreement between Bangladesh and the UAE during the upcoming visit. The UAE has also expressed an interest in contributing more to Bangladesh's tourism sector, sources said.
Currently, five UAE-based airlines - Emirates, Etihad Airways, Flydubai, Air Arabia, and Air Arabia Abu Dhabi - transport air passengers from Dhaka. Among domestic airlines, Biman and US-Bangla offer flights from Bangladesh to the UAE.
An official of one of the domestic airlines told Dhaka Tribune: “The UAE authorities have already received permission to operate their flights in India and Pakistan. They want to capture the subcontinent's aviation market."
According to sources, Wizz Air is popular as they offer heavily discounted tickets.
Domestic Airlines blame CAAB for ‘unequal competition'
Officials of four domestic airlines - Biman, US Bangla, NovoAir, and AirAstra – expressed frustration over the mooted introduction of Wizz Air and claimed CAAB was working against the interests of the country.
The significantly lower prices offered by Wizz Air would lead to domestic airlines competing on uneven footing, and domestic airlines are already struggling to attract passengers on Middle East-bound routes, they complained.
Bangladeshi airlines are yet to fully utilize the flights they received under the current agreement with the UAE. If Wizz air is now given additional flights on these routes, the aviation market to the Middle East will be lost, the officials said.
A top Biman official said: “While the government is signing an agreement to purchase Airbuses in phases to develop Biman , the aviation apex body, CAAB, is going to allow new airline Wizz Air of the United Arab Emirates to fly from Bangladesh.”
On Sunday, Biman Managing director and CEO Shafiul Azim from London told this reporter: "This (deal with Wizz Air) is totally unprofessional in terms of aviation manners. CAAB should consult with Biman before taking such a decision, as it may conflict with the country's interests."
Mohammed Abdullah Al Mamun, managing director of US Bangla Airlines, said: " First of all, the interests of the country should be preserved. At present, maybe our country's operators don't have the capacity but no one can say that they won't have that capacity after 6 months."
He further said: "Foreign airlines are getting flights easily from our country, but we have to go through a lot of trouble to get slots in the other countries."
Currently, the five UAE-based airline in Bangladesh are operating 133 flights a week.
Mentioning that unequal competition will be created through the introduction of Wizz Air, aviation expert Kazi Wahidul Alam said air services between the two countries should be arranged in a reciprocal way.
“Wizz Air's network frequency is high, so the airline will shake up our aviation market and domestic airlines will lose it,” he said.
However, a top CAAB official of the Air Transport Unit told this reporter: "Local airlines of our country do not have the capacity to fully use all the flight frequencies."
An inter-ministerial meeting on the matter will be held this week, and CAAB may invite domestic air stakeholders for consultancy, the official added.
CAAB Chairman Mafidur Rhaman declined to comment on the matter.
According to CAAB sources, an aviation agreement was signed between the UAE and Bangladesh in 2011.
The agreement was extended in 2019, and the same agreement may be renewed on May 15-16.
