Biman to resume Dhaka-Rome-Dhaka flight after 9 years

Biman to resume Dhaka-Rome-Dhaka flight after 9 years

Dhaka, Mar 26 -The Biman Bangladesh Airlines will resume direct flights to Italy’s Rome from Tuesday night

“We are all set to resume the flight. As per our market analysis, the Dhaka-Rome-Dhaka route will be another popular one, like our London (UK), Toronto (Canada), and Narita (Japan) routes," said Biman MD and CEO Shafiul Azim.

The Dhaka-Rome-Dhaka direct flight is resuming after nine years, prompted by a large number of expatriate Bangladeshis residing in Italy.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Faruk Khan will inaugurate the flight as the chief guest along with Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Antonio Alessandro at 9:30 pm at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).

The inaugural flight is scheduled to depart Dhaka at 3:30am.

According to the booking information Tuesday, 23 people have purchased tickets for Business Class while 177 for Economy Class.

In the first return flight, seven people will travel in Business Class and 247 people will travel in Economy Class.

The capacity of the aircraft is 271 passengers, including 24 in business class and 247 in economy class. 

The decision to resume the flight was thoroughly assessed from a commercial standpoint while Bangladeshi expatriates in Rome have increased sevenfold since 2009, said the Biman CEO.

"The planning of Biman's route expansion to different cities in Europe is a reflection of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's commitment to the expatriate Bangladeshis," he said. 

The Dhaka to Rome flight will be Biman's third European destination, as currently the national flag carrier is operating flights to London and Manchester. 

After the announcement of the Rome flight the visa applications to Italy have increased three fold, the Biman CEO said referring to the Italian Embassy in Dhaka.

Azim said he is also planning to use Rome as a stopover for Biman's Dhaka-Toronto-Dhaka flight, as currently the state-owned carrier is using Istanbul for refueling its Canada-bound flights. 

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. 

Between March 27 and March 31, flight BG-355 will depart Dhaka every Monday,Tuesday, and Thursday at 2:00 a.m. local time and reach Rome at 7:00 a.m. local time. 

From April 1, the flight will take off from Dhaka every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 3:00am as per the summer schedule and arrive at the capital of Italy at 9:10am. 

The flight will leave Rome at 10:45 a.m. and land in Dhaka at 11:45 p.m.-UNB