Bangladeshi travellers may soon be able to fly directly from Dhaka to New York and from Dhaka to Toronto, as the government on Wednesday inked a draft agreement with the US and Canada to begin the operation of direct flights between Bangladesh and these countries.
However, the agreement would not ensure the commencement of flight operations right away, since Bangladesh does not have yet any permanent agreements with the countries regarding this, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Faruq Khan said.
After getting approval from the respective governments and Bangladesh's cabinet, the agreement would go into effect, he said.
The operation of direct flights between Bangladesh and the US and Canada would facilitate the travel of about 700,000 Bangladeshis that are living in Canada and North America.
The civil aviation ministry signed the draft agreement with US and Canadian civil aviation authorities on Wednesday morning. The minister was present at the signing ceremony.
"We have signed a draft agreement with (US and Canadian civil aviation authorities),” the minister said during a briefing at his ministry. “They will send it to their governments for approval. If the governments agree, it will be placed before the (Bangladesh) cabinet for approval."
“It will be finally signed and be effective after getting the approval from the cabinet. It may take some time to complete the procedures, but we hope that it will be functional shortly,” he said.
The minister added: “A team from the ministry will visit Canada in September. The team will discuss with concerned authorities about different terms. We will try to begin operating shortly, as it was one of the election pledges of the government.”
Replying a query, the minister said: “We may begin next September, but currently we are facing an immense aircraft crisis. The Biman authority will get two aircrafts from Boeing by September. The operation will begin after collection of the aircrafts.”
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh civil aviation sector will achieve Category A certification from Federation of Aviation Authorities (FAA), a worldwide organisation of civil aviation sector, within next February or March, Faruq confirmed.
An FAA audit team will visit Dhaka to inspect the facilities of the aviation sector to recommend the elevation of Bangladesh’s status, he said.
He also said Bangladesh will get “fifth freedom” from Canada, which means Bangladeshi flights would be able to carry passengers from other countries as soon as operations begin.
"The preliminary agreement would allow passengers flights for three days per week, and cargo flights for three days per week."
Regarding the elevation of Bangladesh to Category A, the minister said: “We have depicted our tourism sector to the world positively. Some initiatives have already been taken to ensure the removal of problems and obstacles in the sector.”
“The civil aviation ministry has taken an initiative to form a separate agency named the Aviation Security Force.” he said.
Faruq said a new organogram of civil aviation had been prepared considering Biman’s needs for the next 10 years.
"The proposals have been sent to the public administration ministry for their approval. The process of forming the Aviation Security Force and increasing manpower would begin after the approval from the ministry,” he said.
He further added that the country’s airports have been undergoing renovations to meet increasing demands for travel the European Union, the US, Australia and Middle Eastern countries.
"I am hopeful that the audit team will be satisfied with the measures we have taken."
Regarding the operation of flights between Myanmar and Bangladesh, Faruq said a draft agreement had already been signed with Myanmar in this regard. The final agreement would be signed shortly as a Myanmar team will visit Bangladesh on August 28-29.
The operation will begin after final agreement, he added.
