Cargo flight with 82 tonnes of onion arrives at Dhaka airport

An air cargo carrying first consignment of onions from Karachi reached Dhaka this evening in a bid to pull reins of the onion price.

The Azerbaijan’s air cargo “Silkway West Airlines” carrying 82 tonnes of onion landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 7:15pm, Group Captain Abu Sayeed Mehboob Khan, director of the airport, told The Daily Star.

The government took the decision to fly in onion from abroad after its all mechanisms went in vain to cool down the overheated onion market.

Yesterday, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told reporters that the commerce ministry had booked a number of cargo flights of different airlines to import 50,000 tonnes of onion. The move is aimed at stabilising the skyrocketing prices of the bulb.

The minister said the air cargo carrying onions from Egypt would land in Dhaka at midnight today.

Onion prices also soared in India and Myanmar. As a result, Bangladesh is importing onions from Egypt and Turkey, he said.

Usually, Bangladesh imports eight lakh tonnes of onion every year against the annual demand of 24 lakh tonnes. Majority of the demand is met through local production and the remaining is met through imports, mainly from India. But this year, it was not possible due to the Indian ban, he said.