Biman Bangladesh Airlines is set to resume its Dhaka-Rome-Dhaka direct flights from Tuesday night after nine years prompting by large number of expatriate Bangladeshi community residing in Italy.
"We are all set to resume the flight. As per our market analysis the Dhaka- Rome-Dhaka will be another popular ones like our London (UK) Toronto (Canada) and Narita (Japan) routes," Bimans Managing Director and CEO Shafiul Azim told BSS on Monday.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Faruk Khan will be present as the chief guest along with Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Antonio Alessandro at the opening ceremony at 9:30 pm at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) while the inaugural flight is schedule to depart Dhaka at 3:30am.
Expressing his optimism regarding commercial viability of the Rome route, Azim said the decision of resuming the flight was thoroughly assessed from a commercial standpoint while Bangladeshi expatriates in Rome have increased sevenfold since 2009.
"The planning of Bimans route expansion to different cities in Europe is a reflection of Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas commitment to the expatriate Bangladeshis," he said.
The Dhaka to Rome flight will be the Bimans third European destinations as currently the national flag carrier is operating flights to London and Manchester.
Bimans Chief said they are working on interlining with Alitalia airlines, the largest carrier of Italy to get passengers from other major cities of Italy and other European major cities.
Interlining is a commercial agreement between airlines that allows them to sell each others tickets and services to passengers on itineraries with more than one flight.
Referring to Italian Embassy in Dhaka, Azim said after announcement of the Rome flight the visa applications to Italy has increased three folds.
It is expected that the direct flight will not only cater to Dhaka-bound passengers but also serve as a hub for passengers from other cities like Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore.
Azim said he is also planning to use Rome as a stopover to Bimans Dhaka- Toronto-Dhaka flight as currently the state-owned carrier is using Istanbul for refueling its Canada-bound flight.
"As we have set up our station in Rome, it will be cost effective if we use Rome instead of Istanbul for refueling our Toronto flight," he said.
Bangladesh Biman initially began operating flights to Rome on April 2, 1981 and stopped on April 6, 2015, facing financial losses due to massive fuel consumption by the then DC-10 carrier and aircraft shortages. —BSS
