Egypt Air has launched a direct flight between Dhaka and Cairo.

The inaugural flight carrying 150 passengers landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 7:00pm yesterday.

The flight was welcomed with a water cannon salute on the runway. The return flight left Dhaka with 289 passengers for Cairo at 8:30pm.

Initially, the airline will operate two weekly flights every Sunday and Wednesday from Dhaka.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali attended the ceremony, organised at HSIA to celebrate the inaugural flight of Egypt Air, as the chief guest.

Welcoming the launching of direct flights by Egypt Air, the state-owned flag carrier of Egypt, he said, "This is in true sense a historic moment in the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Egypt. I am confident that the direct air connection between the two countries will facilitate bilateral tourism, trade, business, and investment.

"Our present government is working on implementing a plan to establish Bangladesh as a regional hub, [which is] why we encourage more foreign airlines to commence services to Bangladesh."

Captain Ihab Al Tahtaway, chief executive officer of Egypt Air in his speech said, "We are really delighted to come to Bangladesh which we consider to be a very prospective aviation market. I hope, valued Bangladeshi customers will enjoy our world-class services on board and on the ground.

"Travellers from Bangladesh will have the opportunity to travel to over 80 destinations spread across our network in the Middle East, Europe, US, Africa, and Asia with convenient connections from Cairo."

Md Mokammel Hossain, secretary, MoCAT; Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, chairman, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh; Amr Adawy, vice president commercial, Egypt Air; Syed Ali Samy, chief executive officer; and Farhad Hossain, COO of ALO Dhaka Aviation, GSA of Egypt Air, were present among others on the occasion.

Egypt Air is the state-owned flag carrier of Egypt. The airline is headquartered at Cairo International Airport, its main hub, operating scheduled passenger and freight services to 81 destinations in Africa, Europe, Asia, and Americas. The airline has a fleet of 70 modern aircraft.