With the arrival of Egypt Air's inaugural flight to Dhaka, direct air link between Bangladesh and Egypt has become a reality now.
From now, the airline will operate two weekly flights every Sunday and Wednesday from Dhaka by modern two-class wide-body Boeing 787-900 aircraft.
The inaugural flight (MS-970) operated by Boeing 787-900 (Dreamliner) carrying 150 passengers landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Dhaka at 7:00pm.
The flight was welcomed with a water cannon salute on the runway. The return flight (MS-971) left Dhaka with 289 passengers for Cairo at 8:30 pm.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali MP attended the ceremony, organized at HSIA to celebrate the inaugural flight of Egypt Air, as the chief guest.
Welcoming the launching of direct flights by Egypt Air, the State Minister said, “This is in true sense a historic moment in the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Egypt. I am confident that the direct air connection between the two countries will facilitate bilateral tourism, trade, business, and investment.
“Our present government is working on implementing a plan to establish Bangladesh as a regional hub, why we encourage more foreign airlines to commence services to Bangladesh,” he added.
Captain Ihab Al Tahtaway, chief executive officer of Egypt Air, said: “We are really delighted to come to Bangladesh which we consider to be a very prospective aviation market. I hope valued Bangladeshi customers will enjoy our world-class services on board and on the ground.
“Travelers from Bangladesh will have the opportunity to travel to over 80 destinations spread across our network in the Middle East, Europe, US, Africa, and Asia with convenient connections from Cairo,” he added.
Md Mokammel Hossain, Secretary, MoCAT, Air Vice Marshal M. Mafidur Rahman, Chairman, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, Amr Adawy, Vice President Commercial, Egypt Air, Syed Ali Samy, Chief Executive Officer and Farhad Hossain, COO of ALO Dhaka Aviation, GSA of Egypt Air were present among others on the occasion.
