Dhaka-Barisal air passengers often face flight suspension
Murad Ahmed, Barisal
Passengers at Barisal Airport are facing major hassles, particularly over irregular, decreased, suspended and closed flights on the Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka air route. The Barisal Airport authorities have blamed a critical shortage of passengers for all these developments.
The number of passengers on this route has increased considerably in recent times, as confirmed by the authorities of Bangladesh Biman (BB) and private airlines. There is no passenger crisis, as claimed by the Barisal Airport authorities, they said.
They are at a loss to understand why the Barisal airport authorities have suspended the flights.
Sources at Barisal airport said there has been an increase of over 31,000 passengers on the Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka air route over the past year. Yet, Bangladesh Biman has reduced its number of flights by one and US Bangla by one, while NOVO Air has closed all its flights in the past three months. As a result, passengers are suffering badly.
Sources said a total of 44,288 passengers arrived and departed to and from Barisal last year on 910 flight trips of three airlines, including BB. But only 13,785 passengers travelled by air from here in 2015.
In the past three months, a total of 164 flight trips occurred from the airport, carrying 9,477 passengers. Among these passengers, BB carried 3,292 passengers on 52 flight trips.
On visiting the airport on the afternoon of March 9, it was found that the 76-seater BB flight arrived and departed from here with its seats full.
At the same time, a US Bangla flight arrived, loaded with passengers, and departed from Barisal with 45 passengers. Anisul Haque, a regular BB passenger, alleged that there was a conspiracy to curtail flights on this route.
Dr Rafiqul Islam, another passenger, claimed that a group of airlines was using the route as its practice fieldthe airlines start doing business here but after getting permission on other routes, including international routes, they leave Barisal. As a result, schedules of flights change again and again, affecting passengers who travel regularly.
According to official records, Barisal airport was built on 163 acres on land with an updated tower, traffic signals, a 6,000-ft-long and 100-ft-wide runway, after spending Tk. 40 crore, at Rahamatpur area in 1985.
It has its own power and fire service systems. After 10 years of construction, the airport was officially opened on December 3, 1995. But passenger flights started here on July 14, 1995.
Private airliner Aero Bengal Airlines operated its services from this airport on the Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka route from July 16, 1995, and closed these down on May 15, 1998; Air Parabat from August 1, 1996 till July 23, 2000; GMG Airlines from June 3, 1998 to January 6, 2007; United Airways from September 28, 2008 to May 5, 2009. It again resumed its services from April 25, 2013 and shut these down on August 16, 2014.
BB started its passenger services from November 1995 but suspended these three times. BB last resumed its services on April 8, 2015, but has suspended one flight.
NOVO Air started its services here on April 2, 2016, closing it down on December 31, 2016. US Bangla started its services here on July 10, 2015, and is still serving.
BBs station in-charge Humayun Kabir said: We are satisfied as we are getting flights full of passengers, but do not know the cause of suspension of one flight. Md. Riaz, sales and marketing manager of US Bangla Airlines, said: No airline has the right to blame the so-called shortage of passengers as the cause for suspension or closure of their air trips here. Md. Hanif Gazi, aerodrome officer and in-charge of Barisal Airport, said the airport was a profitable one. We are ready to provide all services to the passengers if the authorities start more flights any time, he added.
But Hanif could not explain why the passenger flights have been closed down here, merely saying that every airport has its own cycle and Barisal airport was no different.
