Best Air to resume flights in Sept

Best Air, the country's third private airlines, is likely to resume its flight operation in September after

months of suspension.

“We're planning to stage a comeback in September,” Best Air Chairman M Haider Uzzaman told the news agency over telephone yesterday.

Best Air suspended its flights on February 20 due to financial crisis.

Haider said he is trying to manage funds from different sources to resume the flight operation of his airlines.

Replying to a question, the Best Air chief, whose name was found on the list of loan defaulters, said Best Air will operate its flights on its old routes at the initial stage.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has suspended operations of four local airlines after the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) raised significant safety concerns over the issuance of air operator certificates by the local regulator. The four carriers are Best Air, Mid Asia, THT and Voyager.

Best Aviation started its journey in 1999 as helicopter operator and then began its operation as a freighter airline in 2000. It obtained license in 2006 from the Civil Aviation Authority to operate passenger service both on international and domestic routes. The company launched its passenger fleet with Boeing 737-200, which was the first in Bangladesh.

The airlines had started its operation on the country's busiest Dhaka-Chittagong route on January 14, 2007 with Boeing 737-200.

Before its discontinuation, the airlines had operated flights to Chittagong, Bangkok, Colombo, Male, Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.