Airlines report a complete sell-out of domestic flights during Eid

All the four airlines operating in the domestic market have said that they have no ticket left to sell during the Eid vacations.

All the tickets for domestic flights have been sold out like trains and launches ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, company sources said.

The airlines were turning away the customers for around a week now as the tickets were sold out or booked several weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Eid holidaymakers who were lucky to have tickets complained about delay in departure from Dhaka and in getting their luggage after reaching their destinations.

According to national flag carrier Biman, their flights carried at least 20,000 passengers on seven local routes a week. The number of passengers travelling to Bangkok, Singapore and Kolkata was same for a week.

A Biman spokesperson said they don't have a single empty seat left until Eid.

Zafar Ahmed, who travelled to Cox's Bazar with his family on Saturday to celebrate the Eid with other relatives, said the 4:15pm Biman flight delayed by 20 minutes at the departure. And, on arrival in Cox's Bazar, he had to wait for about an hour in to get his luggage.

Sensing the rush, he had collected the tickets around a month ago.

Novoair said all its flights were fully booked a week ago.

Ashraful Islam, a private firm employee, said he returned empty handed when he went to buy a Novoair ticket for a flight to Syedpur.

US-Bangla Airlines operate 30 domestic flights on the seven routes daily. They have raised the number of daily flights to 40 for a week ahead of the Eid, but still, no seat is empty, said an official.

Regent Airways officials said all their tickets were also sold out.