Biman resumes direct flight route to Japan after 17 years

Biman Bangladesh Airlines resumed its much awaited Dhaka-Narita flight on Friday with an aim to make the Bangladesh-Japan direct air connectivity a profitable route.

Biman had suspended its Dhaka-Tokyo route in 2006 as it was not commercially viable, and there was a lack of sufficient aircraft, said aviation stakeholders.

Shafiul Azim, managing director and CEO of Biman, has recently been emphasising the potential of a direct route to Japan in delivering a reliable, competitive, and sustainable service to air passengers. He expressed his optimism regarding the long-term prospects of the route last Monday.

"Dhaka-Narita could be a promising route for Biman Bangladesh Airlines as we are expecting passengers from our neighbouring countries apart from the local passengers," Shafiul Azim, told BSS.

He said Biman has already offered lucrative packages with more weight on baggage for its Narita route to attract travellers from Nepal and Kolkata.

The Biman chief said the national flag carrier is planning to carry its passengers to Australia, the west coast of the United States, and Canada with the help of other carriers via Japan through code-sharing.

"We are exploring with other airlines interlinking or code-sharing options so that we can offer our passengers different routes beyond Japan like a 360 degree airline," Azim said.

He also said currently Biman is working with Japan Airlines Ltd, All Nippon Airways, and Air Canada for code-sharing.

Code-sharing is a marketing arrangement in which an airline places its designator code on a flight operated by another airline, and sells tickets for that flight.

Airlines throughout the world continue to make code-share arrangements to strengthen or expand their market presence and competitive ability.

Biman will operate three flights per week with Dreamliner 787-8 and 787-9 aircrafts on the Dhaka-Narita route.

The flight will depart from Dhaka every Friday, Monday, and Wednesday, and from Narita every Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday.

The minimum one-way fare on the route is Tk70,828, while the return ticket price is Tk1,11,656 per passenger, said sources at Biman Bangladesh.

The inaugural Dhaka-Narita flight was scheduled to take off from Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:45pm local time on 1 September and reach Narita International Airport in Japan on 2 September at 9:15am local time, said sources.

State minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali was the chief guest at the flight inauguration programme.