Airlines passengers’ wait for additional flights to and from Cox’s Bazar is going to be ended. From next February passengers will be able to land and depart even in the night from Cox’s Bazar airport. Now, one will be able to fly Cox’s Bazar in the morning and leave the tourist spot in the night after enjoying the beauty of world’s largest sea beach whole day. The new facility will turn the commute of service holders, businessmen and tourists easier. The good news is that Cox’s Bazar airport is being upgraded to international airport. It will be the fourth international airport after Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet in the country. Concerned said that after completion of renovation work at Cox’s Bazar airport it will be upgraded to an international airport. In this way it will increase the number of foreign tourists. Engineer Mosharraf Hossain of Civil Aviation Authority said, technical inspectors from abroad are unable to visit the airport due to Corona pandemic. So, flight operation in the night deferred. It is expected that flight operation in the night will start in February. AH  

Aircraft takeoff and landing will remain suspended from 6pm to 2 am everyday at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) starting from March 11 to June 10 due to renovation work. The information was delivered by Civil Aviation Authority on Monday. According to the directive, flight takeoff and landing will remain suspended for construction work of new high speed taxiway at third terminal of the airport. Earlier, in a notice civil aviation authority said that flight operation will remain suspended from 10 December to 10 March. In this period all types of flight operation on HSIA runway will remain suspended from 12am to 8am. As the new directive was given to suspend flight operation for more three months so basically the flight operation will remain suspended for 8 hours per day for six months starting from December 10 to June 10. Sylhet Osmani International Airport has been kept ready as alternative runway. In case of emergency flight can be landed at Osmani Airport. Meanwhile, the winter flight schedule of Shahjalal Airport has begun. Under the current schedule, times of flights after midnight have been changed. The airport authority follows the winter schedule starting from November. In this period dense fog remains most of the times at the airport starting from 2am to 9am. So visibility problem occurs sometimes for maintaining flight operation. In this case for emergency landing the flight has to divert for another airport. AH          

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has announced to start flight on Dhaka-Chennai route as regular basis as well as Delhi and Kolkata flights in India. The flights will begin under the bubble agreement. The information was confirmed by Biman Bangladesh Airlines Deputy General Manager (Public Relations) Tahera Khondoker through a notice. The notice said, passenger flight operations will start on Dhaka-Delhi-Dhaka route from 29 October, on Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka route from 1 November and on Dhaka-Chennai-Dhaka route from 15 November. Passengers can buy tickets from Biman sales center, mobile app, website and travel agents. Corona related conditions or directions and flight schedule will be available on Biman website. But there are some conditions, such as- everyone has to bring the Corona Negative Certificate. The travelers have to maintain seven-day institutional quarantine in India with their own cost. If there are symptoms of coronavirus infection then the travelers have to maintain 14-day quarantine. AH

The passengers, who bought air tickets of Biman Bangladesh Airlines but could not travel due to the suspension of flight operation amid coronavirus situation, now can travel with the same tickets until March 14, 2021. “The passengers can avail themselves of the opportunity without any charge,” Biman's Deputy General Manager (Public Relations) Tahera Khandaker told UNB on Wednesday. She also said the passengers can get the money refunded if they do not travel with the already purchased tickets. Source: UNB AH

The cruise service in Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka water route has resumed after nearly 70 years. The service has started on test basis from Friday to facilitate journey of tourists under Bangladesh-India river protocol. A ship of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) named ‘MV Modhumoti’ left the Mary Anderson VIP jetty at Pagla in Narayanganj at 7:30 pm on Friday. The ship will reach in Kolkata at 12 pm on March 31 through Barishal-Mongla-Sundarbans and India’s Holdia route. On the other hand Indian cruise ship ‘Ms RV Bengal Ganga’ left Kolkata for Dhaka on Friday. The three-day one-way cost from Dhaka to Kolkata will be Tk 15,000 for a family suite (two-person cabin), Tk 5,000 per passenger for the first class, Tk 10,000 for the deluxe class (two persons), Tk 8,000 per passenger for the economy chair and Tk 1500 per passenger for deck or the shulov class. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner will be available in the ship and the passengers have to buy those. Visa, hotel booking and other journey related works have to be done by the traveler with their own expense. The traveler must have to declare about their route to return on the visa. AH 

The first scheduled non-stop flight between Australia and the UK has touched down in London's Heathrow Airport on Sunday. Qantas Flight QF9 completed its 14,498km (9,009-mile) journey from Perth in just over 17 hours. The airline is using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which is twice as fuel-efficient as the Boeing 747. Reports BBC. It is part of ambitious plans by Qantas to add ultra long-haul flights to its schedules. The Australian flag carrier's Chief Executive, Alan Joyce, has called the new Perth-London service a ‘game-changing route’. Speaking at an event ahead of the inaugural flight, he said the earliest Qantas flights between Australia and the UK - known as the ‘kangaroo route’ - had taken four days and involved seven stops. Western Australia's state government is also hoping to see an increase in tourist numbers as a result of the new direct route. The historic flight, carrying more than 200 passengers and 16 crew, departed from Perth at 18:49 local time on Saturday. To minimize the discomfort of such a long flight, the plane is equipped with features that provide improved air quality and lower cabin noise. The new Perth-London flight is around three hours faster than other routes that involve stops in the Middle East to change planes or refuel. The flight is the world's second-longest after Qatar Airways' route from Doha to Auckland, which spans 14,529km, according to the International Air Transport Association. Other carriers, including Emirates and United Airlines, have also flown non-stop journeys greater than 14,000km. In 2017, United Airlines launched a route from Los Angeles to Singapore, offering the longest-distance non-stop flight available from the US. But Singapore Airlines has provided the world's longest flight, travelling more than 15,300km from Singapore to New York on a direct route that was discontinued in 2013. AH

Travels can be arranged with 20 percent discount in return tickets of six routes including Dhaka-Bangkok. Passengers can avail the facilities from March 22 to 24 to fly with Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The information came through the Biman booth from the ongoing Dhaka Travel Mart at Hotel Sonargaon in the capital. The fair started on Thursday and will continue till Saturday. According to Biman booth sources, Biman Bangladesh Airlines will provide 20 percent discount on return tickets of Economy class in the route from Dhaka to Bangkok, Singapore, Yangon, Kuala Lumpur, Kolkata and Kathmandu. The discounts are being provided to encourage local and foreign tourists. The 20 percent discount will also be offered in one way route from Dhaka. Besides, on the occasion of travel mart Biman Bangladesh Airlines has fixed the fare of tickets including all taxes in the following routes: Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka 10 thousand 226 taka, Dhaka-Kathmandu-Dhaka 15 thousand 189 taka, Dhaka-Yangon-Dhaka 24 thousand 296 taka, Dhaka-Bangkok-Dhaka 17 thousand 603 taka, Dhaka-Singapore-Dhaka 22 thousand 502 taka and in Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka route 20 thousand 438 taka. Meanwhile, Biman also has fixed the one way ticket fare (including all taxes) for the following destinations: Dhaka-Kolkata 5 thousand 581 taka, Dhaka-Kathmandu 11 thousand 202 taka, Dhaka-Yangon 17 thousand 85 taka, Dhaka-Bangkok 13 thousand 973 taka, Dhaka-Singapore 18 thousand 799 taka and in Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur route 16 thousand 155 taka. The passengers also can buy tickets for other international routes with 7 percent discount from the fair. AH