The growing popularity of chartered helicopter flights might suffer a hit, as an additional 5% supplementary duty has been imposed in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The budget speech for FY2019-20 has called for the supplementary duty on helicopter services to be raised to 25% from the existing 20%.
The duty hike comes despite protests, as helicopters are not just luxury, but for emergency medical services or search-and-rescue operations in disaster zones, or for high-profile visits by government or corporate officials.
South Asian Airlines first introduced commercial helicopter services in Bangladesh in 1999 with two helicopters. At present, more than 10 companies commercially operate more than 25 helicopters in Bangladesh.
