Kingfisher eyeing Dhaka and Chittagong

2008-10-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

Intense competition is set to land on busy Dhaka-Kolkata air route as India's second biggest private carrier Kingfisher Airlines looks to take off from Bangladesh within 2008.

“We are looking at the possibilities to begin operation from Bangladesh. We are yet to fix any particular date. But we are trying to start by the year-end,” a senior official of Kingfisher Airlines in Dhaka told The Daily Star yesterday.

Kingfisher will be the sixth entrant to the Dhaka-Kolkata route after Bangladesh Biman, GMG Airlines, United Airways and India's two other carriers -- Air India Express and Jet Airways.

A concern of India's one of the largest alcohol beverage manufacturers UB Group, the 88-fleet carrier made debut on international routes early September this year.

Leisure travellers and medical treatment seekers constitute bulk of the traffic on the route that witnesses over 200 passengers per day, according to industry insiders.

Kingfisher is now also awaiting an approval from Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority to fly on Chittagong-Kolkata route.

The carrier, which has already appointed a general sales agent (GSA) in Dhaka, now connects 64 cities and operates over 418 flights daily.

Travellers have options as bus and train services are available now. Entry of another carrier will benefit the passengers, as they will be able to travel at promotional fares due to increased competition.

Dhaka Airport

2008-05-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is a blog about Zia International Airport, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Zia Airport doesn't have an official website yet. This blog will endeavour to bring up to date information about the airport. It will also contain my thoughts on issues surrounding the airport and about Bangladeshi aviation in general.

Zia International Airport(IATA: DAC, ICAO: VGZR) Bangla: (Zia Antorjatik Bimanbôndor) is the largest airport in Bangladesh located in Kurmitola, Dhaka, with Dhaka Cantonment on one side and Uttara Residential Area on the other. It started operations in 1981, and was named after Bangladesh's former president, Ziaur Rahman, It is the home base and hub of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, GMG Airlines, Best Air and United Airways.

It has an area of 1981 acres (8.0 km²). Nearly 52 per cent of the country's international and domestic arrivals and departures occur through Zia Airport, while country's second largest international airport athandles about 17 per cent of passengers. About 3.8 million international and 0.8 million domestic passengers and 105,000 tons of freight and mail pass through Zia International Airport annually.

Zia Airport has terminal buildings, hangars, technical areas, a freight village (warehouse), and other modern equipment for handling aircraft. It connects many major cities of the world with Bangladesh. From here, Biman Bangladesh flies to 24 cities on two continents.