Chopper rental service poised for a takeoff

Privately run helicopters emerged as a means of commercial travel in the last one year with businessmen, corporate executives, foreign buyers and donors opting for chartered chopper services to visit places outside the capital to avoid huge traffic congestion and time consuming road transports.

There is hardly any week the helicopters are not being used for travelling, the operators said.

“Now we get clients almost five days a week,” said Director (operations) of Square Air Group Captain (retd) M Abu Zafar. The company has been providing service with a seven seated Bell 407 helicopter including two seats for pilots since 2010 and is expecting to add another twine engine helicopter to its fleet soon.

Full story: The Daily Star

Regent Airways will compete on a different level

Regent Airways, the newest player in country’s aviation sector, plans to compete with on time performance and providing optimised customer service and not on fares.

“The aviation cake is big enough and all three of us can have a good bite and increase our market share. The current fares are competitive,” said Mashruf Habib, Managing Director, Regent Airways.

Full story: The Bangladesh Monitor

All highways in a quagmire

In any directions you want to travel from the capital, you will find the highways riddled with mortal danger.

DHAKA-CHITTAGONG
With over 50,000 vehicles plying one way every day, the Dhaka-Chittagong road is full of potholes, and chaotic and unfit to accommodate such a volume of traffic.

DHAKA-MYMENSINGH
Dhaka-Mymensingh highway has become unusable due to large ditches and potholes all the way. Bus operators have suspended their services to 28 destinations in Mymensingh region.

DHAKA-SYLHET
There are two ways to go to Sylhet — one is via Tongi through the Kaliganj-Ghorashal road and the other through Jatrabari. The road through Kaliganj is so narrow that once a vehicle breaks down there, miles of tailbacks occur instantly. The road through Jatrabari remains jam-packed with vehicles most of the time. The main highway to Sylhet still remains good but potholes have started to appear at many points. Maintenance is urgent here before it gets worse.

Full story: The Daily Star

Plan for Tongi-Bhairab Bazar double line railway track

Bangladesh Railway yesterday signed a deal with a Chinese firm on upgrading the Tongi-Bhairab Bazar single-line track to double lines, almost five years after a project was initiated in this regard.

The Tk 1,405 crore project also includes improving the signalling system on Dhaka-Chittagong main line, which is expected to be completed by 2014.

Abu Taher, director general of Bangladesh Railway, and Wendong, deputy general manager of the contractor firm China Railway Group, signed the deal at the Railway Bhaban in the capital.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) is financing Tk 1,330 crore, equivalent to 94.70 percent of the project cost, while the rest will be borne by the government.

Full story: The Daily Star

Refuelling facility at Sylhet Osmani airport planned

The government for the first time will build an aircraft refuelling facility at Sylhet Osmani airport to attract foreign airlines at the newly set up international landing field in north-eastern Bangladesh, officials said Monday.

Civil aviation and tourism ministry official said they would invest Tk416.4 million to construct a 300-tonne capacity jet fuel refilling station at the airport to create facilities for domestic and international airlines.

Full story: The Financial Express

Return of the railways

The railway passenger traffic had to take a backseat over the past years across the country. This was particularly true for the journeys between Dhaka and Chittagong and between Dhaka and Sylhet. On these two routes, the presence of regular bus service with large and comfortable coaches was an attractive option for the travellers.

However, the frequency of road accidents and the tendency to block roads by mobs for any reason, leading to unacceptable delays any time any place, have been making the option of road journey less attractive. Such incidents, coupled with the absence of toilets on buses, are big disadvantages for women, children and elderly people.

Full story: New Age

Destiny takes over Best Air

Destiny Group has bought off 80 percent stakes in the troubled Best Air for Tk 150 crore, said a top official of the local airline yesterday.

Best Aviation Ltd, the owning company of Best Air, and Destiny, a multilevel marketing company, signed a share-transfer deal on November 11, according to M Haider Uzzaman, who now acts as the managing director for the airline.

Full story: The Daily Star

Regent Airways hits skies

Regent Airways, a venture of Chittagong-based conglomerate Habib Group, has made a foray into the aviation sector. Its maiden flights will take off Wednesday.

The company plans to become the ‘most preferred’ and ‘safest’ local airline.

Full story: The Daily Star

Biman Bangladesh Airlines pilots go on strike

Image via Wikipedia

Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited has suspended five pilots, prompting their colleagues to go on strike from Tuesday night that has caused most of its aircraft grounded, the national flag carrier’s pilot said Wednesday.

Full story: People Daily Online

United Airways adds A310-300 and ATR-72 to it’s fleet

The United Airways (BD) Limited, the first listed airline in country’s capital market, added one Airbus A310 and one ATR-72 aircraft to its fleet on October 5, 2010 to consolidate its domestic, regional and international networks.

Capt. Tasbirul Ahmed Choudhury, Chairman and Managing Director, United Airways (BD) Ltd said, “This new addition of aircraft has increased the fleet strength of the airline to six.”

Full story: United Airways