Biman Bangladesh Airlines will have to wait until April before it can start flying from Dhaka to New York.
Earlier, on Aug 17, Bangladesh had signed an open sky agreement with the United States to resume its flights to New York.
Flight Safety and Regulations Department Director SM Nazmul Anam of the Civil Aviation Authorities, Bangladesh (CAAB) said a technical team will arrive from the US to check a number of things including the security arrangements at Shahjalal International Airport.
“All this might take until June to finish. So it can be said that flights to New York can’t start before April.”
A country must have a Category 1 rating from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) if it intends to conducts flights to the US. The matter of security is usually its top priority. Bangladesh is awaiting such a rating.
Bangladesh also inked a deal with Canada.
Anam said, “The US granted us fifth freedom. There is an agreement with Canada as per which we can operate three flights a week. According to that agreement, we can carry 30 percent passengers from New York to Toronto. It will be profitable.”
Taking transit in a country en route to another destination is called fifth freedom in aviation language. If the return route includes a transit it is called sixth freedom.
Director Anam said the CAAB will take all measures for category 1 upgrade.
“We are making plans. We wanted the US audit team to arrive within October. But they are yet to provide us a slot. Honestly, the FAA audit team will not be here before January. And their results won’t arrive until March.”
“When you think of it, Biman cannot start the flight now.
“Their two new aircraft will arrive in February and March next year. So we don’t want to rush things but will make full preparations. Haste can cause more harm than good,” he added.According to Biman sources, Biman is going to acquire its two brand new Boeing 777 aircraft by next March. Generally, these aircraft are suitable for long haul.
About starting flights to Toronto, Anam said, “Canada will basically audit Biman to check if its planes and system of security are in good shape. Biman will write to Canada as soon as it is ready for their audit. Their representatives will arrive after that.”
The flag carrier can schedule three flights with an inter-point to Toronto after the final agreement signed.
About the airline’s preparations before resuming flights to New York, its MD Kevil Steele told bdnews24.com, “Biman is already making preparations to operate flights in New York from April next year. By then I hope our two new aircraft will be here.”
“We have to wait and see the new Canada Air Service Agreement (ASA) before we can decide when we can operate in Toronto. We however are disappointed that the Canadian authorities have not provided us with intermediate fifth freedom for flights to and from Europe, especially because the US, UK, and European authorities have already granted it to us.”
However, Kazi Wahedul Alam, former Biman director and an aviation expert, is worried about the commercial viability.
“Operating New York flights means when you will use your aircraft for one flight, you cannot use it on other routes for minimum three days. So I think Biman should have a professional market survey before taking any step.”
Biman suspended its New York route after being banned by FAA on 1996. It will fly to Toronto for the first time.
Source: Bd news24