GMG may fly to Jeddah and Riyadh next month

The country's biggest private carrier, GMG Airlines, may begin operations on two major money-spinning routes Jeddah and Riyadh of Saudi Arabia early next month.
The seven-jet carrier wants to fly to Jeddah on August 8 and later to Riyadh, its Chief Executive Christian Heinzmann said.
The airline aims to operate six weekly flights to Jeddah and four to Riyadh.
“We have got permission from the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) to operate a total of 10 flights per week on the two routes. And we have decided to utilise all the slots,” said Heinzmann in an email reply to The Daily Star.
The entry of the private airline is expected to break the decade-old monopoly of Biman Bangladesh Airlines in Saudi Arabia, employer of nearly 20 lakh Bangladeshi workers and a destination of hajj pilgrims.
At present, Biman and Saudi Arabian Airlines carry bulk of the travellers between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.
Heinzmann said the routes are profitable for any airlines operating from Dhaka, and would help GMG generate higher revenue.
“Though I can't give you the exact revenue figure, we expect to grab a big chunk of the market.” he said.
The carrier now flies to eight international destinations, including the world's busiest airport Dubai. Now foreign airlines, as a group, enjoy around 71 percent of the more than 35 lakh air-passenger market.
The airline said it would use its newly acquired 264-seater Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft on Jeddah and Riyadh routes.
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