As its third European destination after London and Manchester, Biman Bangladesh Airlines is scheduled to restart its direct Dhaka-Rome-Dhaka service early on Wednesday after nine years. The airline hopes to serve the substantial expatriate Bangladeshi community living in Italy.
At a ceremony held at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) tonight, Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism M Faruk Khan virtually inaugurated the maiden flight. The inaugural flight is scheduled to depart Dhaka at 3:30am.
The ceremony was headed by Shafiul Azim, the managing director and CEO of Biman, and featured a speech by Sajjadul Hasan, the member of the Parliamentary standing committee on civil aviation and tourism.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary M Mokammel Hossain, Biman’s board of directors chairman Mostafa Kamal Uddin, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman and Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Antonio Alessandro spoke as the special guests.
Bangladesh Airlines has expanded its flights, according to Faruk Khan, in keeping with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s goal of making Bangladesh a hub for aviation.
He claimed that the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s dedication to the Bangladeshis living abroad is shown in the planning of Biman’s route expansion to additional places in Europe.
While the number of Bangladeshi expats in Rome has expanded sevenfold since 2009, Azim expressed hope regarding the business feasibility of the Rome route and said the decision to resume the trip was carefully considered from a commercial aspect.
