Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan on Sunday said Biman Bangladesh Airlines will launch flights soon on different news routes including Male, Sydney, Kunming, Jakarta and Wuhan.
The minister said this in parliament while responding to a question from independent MP Abdullah Nahid Nigar.
The government has taken various measures including operating flights on different new routes to turn Biman Bangladesh Airlines into a profitable entity, said the minister.
He said the other steps include evaluating the existing routes of the airline and increasing the weekly frequency on various profitable routes.
Besides, flights to New York will be resumed subject to the upgradation of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh to Category-1.
Faruk Khan said the old aircraft of Biman will be phased out subject to the addition of new aircraft to the fleet.
In response to a question of Awami League MP Ali Azam from Bhola-2, the minister said, the government has no plan to reopen the closed airports.
The minister, however, said, in view of the development of the current global economic situation, passenger’s demand and the interest of the airlines, decision can be taken to open the closed airports.
The civil aviation minister said currently there are three international, seven domestic and five STOL (Short Take-off and Landing) airports in the country.
Among them, three international airports and five domestic airports are operational.
