DHAKA: US-Bangla Airlines, Bangladesh's largest airline by fleet size, has introduced direct flights from Dhaka to Jeddah due to increasing demand for travel to Saudi Arabia.
The first flight was launched on Thursday evening by the Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Faruk Khan.
“We launched the Dhaka-Jeddah flight as part of our long-term expansion plan,” Kamrul Islam, the airline’s general manager, told Arab News.
“We are focusing on the Jeddah route and have added 436-seat Airbus to our fleet. Inshallah, we will be offering flights to other destinations in the Kingdom in the coming days, such as Riyadh and Dammam.”
Flights from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka to Jeddah are operated daily with an Airbus 330.
The airline is thus tapping into the growing market for travel to the Middle East. The number of flights to Saudi Arabia is too low to meet the needs of the approximately three million Bangladeshi workers in the kingdom.
“There is a huge demand for (flights) from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries,” Islam said.
Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia “have long been demanding the introduction of flights to the kingdom and with this flight to Jeddah we have tried to meet their demand as well,” he added.
The plan also aims to serve hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who take part in the annual Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.
“From the very first flight to Jeddah, we have been carrying Umrah passengers. With the commencement of flight operations to Jeddah, we have taken up a plan to transport our Hajj pilgrims along with Bangladesh's national airline Biman. This will facilitate our pilgrims' journey to the Holy Land,” said Islam.
Last year, huge demand for airline tickets from Bangladesh to the Middle East during the Hajj season caused prices to skyrocket and deterred many potential pilgrims from making the spiritual journey.
US-Bangla Airlines was founded in 2010 as a domestic airline and has recently expanded its routes to international routes and currently serves 13 destinations in 10 countries.
With the recent acquisition of new Airbus A330 and Boeing 737 aircraft earlier this year, the airline became the largest airline in Bangladesh in terms of fleet size.
With these new additions, the US-Bangla fleet now consists of 24 aircraft, while the national carrier Biman has 21.
