Biman slashes fares for 4 ME destinations

Biman Bangladesh Airlines yesterday announced to reduce its ticket prices for different destinations in Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia.

The reduced prices would be effective from January 16. The airfares for different routes were reduced from Tk 7,000 to Tk 13,000.

The association of recruiting agencies, however, said that the reduced amount is nominal and the airfare for Biman still remained very high compared to other airlines in the neighbouring countries.

Besides, passengers, especially the expatriate workers, would not be able to avail of the benefit as Biman has no ticket available until March, they added.

According to Biman authorities, the reduced fare would be applicable for tickets for Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Dubai and Abu Dhabi routes, depending on the availability of the tickets.

The reduced airfare will continue as always, they added.

The national airliner said the one-way maximum fare for each economy class ticket on the Dhaka-Jeddah route has been reduced from Tk 72,455 to Tk 64,820 inclusive of tax.

The maximum one-way economy class fare on the Dhaka-Riyadh or Dammam routes have been reduced from Tk 70,758 to Tk 63,123.

For the Dhaka-Dubai route, the maximum one-way economy class fare has been reduced from Tk 75,508 to Tk 62,784 while the maximum one-way economy class fare on the Dhaka-Abu Dhabi route has been reduced from Tk 67,025 to Tk 58,542.

Fakhrul Islam, president of Recruiting Agency Welfare Organization of Bangladesh, yesterday told The Daily Star that in November, airfares for different Middle Eastern countries were between Tk 40,000 and Tk 45,000. Now, the prices are between Tk 70,000 and Tk 90,000, which is totally illogical.

Giving a comparison between Bangladesh and its neighbouring countries for Riyadh, he said the fare for the Colombo-Riyadh route is Tk 38,000, while airfare for the Mumbai-Riyadh route is around Tk 32,000.

On the other hand, a Bangladeshi passenger needs to spend around Tk 80,000 to Tk 85,000 to go to Riyadh, said Fakhrul.

Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh and leaders of recruiting agencies recently demanded operating additional flights to Middle Eastern destinations by Biman and other concerned airlines so that airfare could be brought back to normal rates.