Qatar Airways seeks govt nod to up flights to Dhaka

Mohamed Saleh Fakhri

Qatar Airways has called on Bangladesh to allow it to increase the frequency of its flights to Dhaka in a mutually beneficial aviation business deal.

"We are all on the fast track to globalisation. The skies should be open to all airlines, as protectionism goes nowhere," Qatar Airways General Manager (Commercial) Mohamed Saleh Fakhri told Bangladeshi journalists at the airline's headquarters in Doha on Tuesday, who were on a three-day familiarisation tour of Qatar from April 12.

"I'm all for other airlines too, if they make similar requests to Bangladesh."

"More flights mean more visitors to Bangladesh and more arrivals of foreigners mean the growth of tourism -- all leading to more earnings for both countries," Fakhri said, adding Bangladesh has great potential for tourism.

His call came before the arrival of travel industry's prominent figures in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to discuss fundamental changes in tourism at the next month's World Travel and Tourism Council's Fourth Global Travel and Tourism Summit to be hosted by Qatar Airways.

The national flag carrier of Qatar has eight code-share partners, including Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Sources close to the aviation industry say Biman benefits from the sale of about 100 Qatar Airways tickets a week in code-share partnership that tour operators describe as effective to cut the seat crisis.

"We are hopeful of moving faster as a partner in growth," Fakhri said. He pointed to a sharp contrast between two neighbouring countries in South Asia: the Qatari national flag carrier that has 28 flights to India operates only five to Dhaka a week.

"It's wrong to say the national flag carrier of Bangladesh will lose out to a glut of international airlines on the aviation market. Competition does not make you weak … it makes you stronger," he said.

Sri Lanka opened its skies to Qatar and Qatar Airways flies twice a day to the South Asian country, dubbed as a halcyon land rich in birds, beasts and ancient monuments. "With a few flights to Dhaka a week, it is difficult for us to make travels more convenient for passengers. It's surprising that the airport in Chittagong is closed to the Middle Eastern aircraft."

The airline's Area Manager for Bangladesh Shamshad Ahsan, attending the press briefing, said he applied to the government two years ago for more flights to Dhaka, but it did not reply yet.

The airline flies to 48 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the Far East and set a target of flying to 60 destinations by 2005.

Qatar Airways hosted the familiarisation trip for 13 print and electronic media people and local airline officials to Qatar, located halfway on the western shore of the Arabian Gulf and bordered by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in the south and Bahrain in the northwest. Kazi Wahidul Alam, managing director of Triune Group that also deals with media relations, led the media team.

Doha nestles around a superb bay with a 7km-long corniche lined with shaded gardens and a palm-fringed island at the centre, lapped by the shallow waters which change colour from blue to green to turquoise depending on the light.

The cosmopolitan spirit of the commercial and administrative centre strikes a balance with rich cultural and religious heritage.

TOURISM SUMMIT
About 700 delegates, including Easyjet's founder Stelio Haji-Ioannou and BBC's Nik Gowing, will arrive in Doha to attend the tourism summit from May 1-3.

"The series of issues that the tourism industry had to confront in the last few years has meant that the travel industry must create new ways of doing things if it is to sustain growth into the future," Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said in a report. He is also the chief of tourism in Qatar.

The agenda will touch on how the media influences consumers, current economic trends in the industry, new management styles, investment opportunities, seamless travel experience, world health issues, new destinations and new markets.