DHAKA: US-Bangla Airlines, Bangladesh's largest airline by fleet size, has launched direct flights from Dhaka to Jeddah amid growing demand for travel to Saudi Arabia.
The first flight was launched by Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Farooq Khan on Thursday evening.
“We have launched the Dhaka-Jeddah flight as part of our long-term expansion plan,” Kamrul Islam, the airline's general manager, told Arab News.
“Focusing on the Jeddah route, we introduced Airbus to our fleets with a capacity of 436 seats. Please, we will be operating flights to other destinations in the Kingdom such as Riyadh and Dammam in the coming days.”
Flights from Hazrat Shahjalal Dhaka International Airport to Jeddah operate every day of the week on Airbus 330 aircraft.
The airline is capitalizing on the growing Middle East travel market. There were too few flights to Saudi Arabia to meet the needs of the estimated 3 million Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom.
“There is a huge demand for (flights) from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East,” Islam said.
Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia “have been demanding for a long time to start flights to the Kingdom, and with this flight from Jeddah, we have also tried to fulfill their demands,” he added.
It is also planned to serve hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who go on the annual Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.
“From the very first flight to Jeddah, we started carrying Umrah passengers. With the start of flights to Jeddah, we have included a plan to transport our Hajj pilgrims together with the national carrier of Bangladesh, Biman. This will facilitate the journey of our pilgrims to the holy land,” Islam said.
Last year, high demand for air tickets from Bangladesh to the Middle East during the Hajj season caused prices to skyrocket, preventing many would-be pilgrims from embarking on the spiritual journey.
Founded in 2010, US-Bangla Airlines started as a domestic carrier and recently expanded its routes to international routes. It currently serves 13 destinations in 10 countries.
With the latest acquisition of new Airbus A330 and Boeing 737 aircraft earlier this year, the carrier has become the largest airline in Bangladesh by fleet size.
With the additions, US and Bangla's fleet now consists of 24 aircraft, while national carrier Biman has 21.
