The first flight of the airline is scheduled to take off from Dhaka for Sylhet this morning with a Canadian made 37-seat Dash-8, officials of the new airline said.

It will initially operate three passenger flights every day on both Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chittagong routes.

United plans to add another Dash-8 aircraft next month and an F-100 plane to its fleet by the year-end.

Cox's Bazar, Barisal and Jessore will be included in the airline's domestic routes soon, while it eventually plans to go for regional operations, the officials said.

The non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) mainly from the UK have teamed up to create an airline in the country. So far some 600 NRBs have contributed to forming the company, Tasbirul Ahmed Choudhury, chairman and managing director of United Airways, told a press conference in Dhaka recently.

Currently, GMG Airlines, the other private sector carrier, enjoys a market share of more than 60 percent, while the rest covered by the national flag carrier Biman.

United is optimistic about being the market leader in domestic operations by the next couple of years.