Turkish Airlines, Air Arabia get flight permission

After remaining shut for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) on Sunday permitted Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia to operate their flights in Dhaka from July 1.

"Two more are waiting the authority's nod", said Civil Aviation Authority Chairman Air Vice Marshall Muhammad Mafidur Rahman.

"We have permitted Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia to transport passengers but Turkish Airlines will start flight from July 2 or 3 and Air Arabia from July 1," he said.

"Besides, Malaysia and Malindo Air also applied for direct flights to Bangladesh. We may primarily give them transit permits but the decision is yet to be taken," he added.

Earlier on June 21, Emirates was allowed to fly primarily three flights per week on the Dubai-Dhaka route and Qatar Airways got the approval from June 16, the Chairman said.

Emirates will transport passengers only on Dhaka-Dubai route as the entry of Bangladeshi citizens is currently blocked in UAE due to coronavirus pandemic, he said adding that but UAE nationals will be able to travel here.

"Although Bangladeshis are restricted to enter Doha and UAE but they can travel to other countries using transit flight," he said adding that applications seeking entry permission of Bangladeshi citizens to Doha and UAE have been sent to their aviation authorities.

"We'll consider the applications of airlines who would apply to operate flights in the country as the international flights have resumed since June 16 following health regulations at limited scale," Rahman said.

Sources at CAAB said Emirates is operating flights every Saturday, Monday and Thursday from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

EK584 flight will come from Dubai to Dhaka on Saturday, Monday and Thursday while EK584 flight will leave Dhaka for Dubai on those respective days, sources said.

Meanwhile, Biman Bangladesh Airline Managing Director and CEO Mokabbir Hossain said a single flight of Biman is flying on Dhaka-London-Dhaka route on Sundays every week.

The Biman flights are ready to travel to other routes after getting permission, he said.

CAAB Authorities allowed Biman to operate on Dhaka-London route from June 16 while Qatar Airways was only permitted for transit flight, he added.

On June 1, Civil Aviation authority permitted operation of all domestic flights maintaining social distancing and following health guidelines.

Airlines to count $84bn loss

On June 9, the IATA released a financial outlook for the global air transport industry showing that airlines are expected to lose $84.3 billion this year.

Revenues will fall 50 percent to $419 billion from $838 billion in 2019, IATA says.

In 2021, losses are expected to be cut to $15.8 billion as revenues rise to $598 billion.

"Financially, 2020 will go down as the worst year in the history of aviation," IATA said in its report.

On average, every day of this year will add $230 million to industry losses. In total that's a loss of $84.3 billion, IATA said.

"Based on an estimate of 2.2 billion passengers this year — airlines will lose $37.54 per passenger," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's Director General and CEO.