Regent to launch Dhaka-Kolkata flights in two months

Regent Airways, the market leader in domestic air travels, plans to introduce international routes within the next two months by launching Dhaka-Kolkata flights.
The airline got the permission to fly on international routes from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) in October and is now waiting on the route and frequency permission from the government.
“We have a plan to start international operations with Dhaka-Kolkata and Chittagong-Kolkata flights between December and January,” Imran Asif, the airline's chief executive officer, told The Daily Star yesterday.
The airline would initially operate seven flights from Dhaka and four from Chittagong, with its two 50-seater turbo-prop Dash8-Q300 aircraft, to Kolkata a week.
The airline has plans to start flights to Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Muscat and Singapore by the middle of 2013 by leasing two 126-seater Boeing 737-700 aircraft to serve these routes, said Asif.
Regent Airways is a fully-owned subsidiary of Habib Group, a Chittagong-based conglomerate since 1947.
The airline, which completes its two years of operation on Saturday, has emerged as the preferred carrier for domestic passengers, with routes to Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Jessore and Sylhet.
“We have so far carried more than five lakh passengers on domestic routes during the last two years,” said the airline's CEO.
In the last 12 months, Regent carried around 2.80 lakh passengers, Asif said, while adding that the airline has been able to maintain an average of 85 percent cabin factor.
The airline, which now operates nine flights a day, however, has not made any profits so far due to higher fixed costs.
“We are very close to touching the break-even-point,” said Asif, adding that the carrier will start making profits when it launches full-fledged regional flights.
The carrier charges fares, depending on various classes, between Tk 4,000 and Tk 6,000 for a one-way trip to Chittagong.
For Dhaka-Cox's Bazar, the one-way fare is Tk 5,000-Tk 7,000, while for one-way tickets to Jessore and Sylhet the fares are Tk 2,500-Tk 4,000 and Tk 3,200-Tk 4,500 respectively.
At present, Regent, United Airways and Biman Bangladesh Airlines operate on the domestic routes, and Biman, United and India's Jet Airways fly from Dhaka to Kolkata.
“We have maintained an on-time performance of over 98 percent since inception. This has made Regent Airways the most reliable and predictable airline in the market,” said Asif.
Local airlines transported 627,000 passengers on domestic routes in 2011, up by 20 percent from the previous year, according to data from the CAAB.

[email protected]