Second pvt airline starts operation

11 January 1998, 18:00 PM

UPDATED 18 June 2013, 00:50 AM

By Special Correspondent

Air Parabat, the second private sector airline in the country, started operation yesterday with two maiden flights to Jessore and Rajshahi as Bangladesh Biman still remained in a limbo as regards its domestic service. "I was not afraid, it was nice," 10-year old Rimad alighting first from the return flight from Rajshahi told this correspondent. His views on the propeller-driven, Czech-built short take-off and landing aircraft were shared by Jahanara Parvin Jharna, a student of Dhaka University. The debut by Air Parabat brought mixed fortune for the company. The day's first flight to Jessore had 13 passengers, but returned with 11. Likewise, Rajshahi flight went full but the return trip brought eight passengers. Chairman of the company Air Vice-Marshal (rtd) AK Khandaker told newsmen before they were taken on a demonstration flight over the city: "We would like to set an example, no compromise on safety and treating passengers as VIPs from the moment they buy tickets and till they depart collecting their baggage. Juglul Karim, a director of the company said "We will try to build a good airline. In the long run, we hope, we would be able to operate bigger aircraft." Joseph Hornak, who founded the Air Ostrova in the Czech Republic with two aircraft similar to the ones he had sold to Air Parabat, described various aspects of the L-410 aircraft. He said 1050 aircraft had been built so far, there had been no mechanical failures leading to crash, the safety record had been 95 per cent. The Parabat aircraft had undergone refurbishment to meet the British and the Federal Aviation Authority of US Standards having avionics to permit all-weather flying including landings on short and rough airstrips. Karim said they have bought the two aircraft, each costing Tk four crore from Air Ostrova. They were built in 1992. Asked about the higher fare than that of the first private sector airliner, he said fare had been calculated on operational costs. "We will provide better service." Air Parabat is among eight companies permitted by the government in 1994 to operate in private sector serving the domestic routes. Only one started operation last year, with two 17. But the aircraft are now grounded and the company is running its services with a 50-seater, leased from Kazakh airlines.