Biman cancels all 24 flights of today, yesterday
Biman Bangladesh Airlines cancelled all its 24 flights scheduled to operate yesterday and today on three domestic routes due to lack of passengers.
The national flag carrier was forced to cancel 46 flights between June 1 and June 4 for the same reason, said sources.
Tahera Khandaker, deputy general manager (public relations) of Biman, told The Daily Star, "We were forced to cancel all our scheduled for today [yesterday] and tomorrow [today] as number of passengers were very low."
The maiden flight of Biman on Dhaka-Saidpur route took off on Monday with only four passengers on board while the return flight had 20 passengers, said Tahera.
Except for the Dhaka-Saidpur-Dhaka, flight, the national airliner had to cancel its ten others flights on Chattogram and Sylhet route on May 1 -- the day regular flight operation resumed on a limited scale on the three domestic routes after more than two months of suspension due to coronavirus.
On Tuesday, Biman also cancelled all its 12 flights on the three routes due to lack of passenger, Tahera said.
According to sources the price difference between the national flag carrier and private operators was one of the main reasons behind the passenger shortage.
Biman was charging Tk 3,000 to 3,200 or more as starting price for tickets while two private airlines -- US-Bangla and Novoair -- charged Tk 1,999 to Tk 2,500 for the same ticket.
That is why people are moving to the two private operators for air travel, said the sources.
A senior official of Biman said they did not want to operate their flights incurring loss.
"Other airlines are operating their flights at a reduced price. But we don't want to do unhealthy business," he said wishing anonymity.
"Our starting price is Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,200 while other air operator is offering Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,500. We will not operate our flight in this way," he added.
"Instead of domestic flight, we are giving priority to operate chartered flights on international routes which is profitable."
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