Mubashar Hasan
BDNEWS UK Correspondent
Advisory: with more comment of CAAB officials
London, Aug 1 31 (BDNEWS)- With an estimated investment of about Tk 400 crore (30 million pound), first ever British Bangladeshi owned private airline company- Royal Bengal Airline (RBA)-is set to fly from London by the end of this year, company sources said.
"We have set our target to start operation by the end of this year from London towards Dhaka," Selim Rahman, Managing Director of the RBA, told BDNEWS.
Initially the company has plan to fly in several routes which includes—London- Dhaka, London- Islamabad, London- Delhi, Birmingham- Dubai—Dhaka, said a top official of the company.
But a high official of Civil Aviation authorities of Bangladesh (CAAB) told BDNEWS at Dhaka that the RBA yet to apply for the international route permit.
Preferring anonymity, the official also said that if the RBA had applied, the CAAB would consider the matter.
"We targeted the expatriate Bangladeshis here and in the middle east as our prime customers who has not been given the best service over the years,"
Rahman said, "We also have plan to run domestic and connecting flights in Bangladesh".
The enthusiastic MD said, "we know we are going to create a big bang in the aviation industry because expatriates are always sympathetic about local airline company."
"Primarily the company has plan to operate with five aircrafts which includes Boeing 747 and 320", Chowdhury Hafiz a company spokesman told BDNEWS.
He said, " We already have opened our office in London, Dhaka and in other major cities in the world to run operation smoothly."
Hafiz said, " We are going to write a history by operating flights in international route as first ever Bangladeshi and we hope that we are going to touch the sky some day."
About forming the company, Mizanur Rahman, a director of the RBA and a former pilot told BDNEWS: It is the result of 5 years of hard work."
Rahman said, " We the expatriates have the money here, we are the leader in catering industry, we are doing good in cash and carry business, supply, insurance, real estate and banking. Why we should suffer for inefficient service of Biman Bangladesh Airlines?"
The RBA is now in its final stage of doing market research by flashing adverts in Bengali newspapers and Bengali televisions.
"The purpose of the survey is to listen to the people to offer the best experience to our customers and allow passengers to fly without complexity," Shahidul Islam, Director of Market research of the RBA told BDNEWS.
The company's HR and technical team has already ready with the Bangladeshi origin British graduates from top UK universities and getting training from some of the top companies at the moment, Heron Miah, another Director of the company told BDNEWS about their technical ability.
About the probability of RBA's success, local journalist Muhammad Jubayer, executive editor of Bengali Weekly Euro Bangla said, " The company has a good chance to be successful as it might get the sympathy of Bangladeshi community here."
To elaborate his view Jubayer said, "at present, service of Biman Bangladesh Airlines has fallen drastically where flight cancellation in London or in connecting airports becomes a regular phenomenon."
"As the Bangladeshi community here are getting fed up with the service of Biman and turning to Air India and other foreign airlines, RBA might do great as it is already advertising that it is owned by Bangladeshi people."
He said, "another Bangladeshi owned private airliner United Airline will launch from UK soon, the company directors already held a press briefing about their project in London last month."
The RBA directors told BDNEWS, the group had plan to launch its mega project from Dhaka, but political instabilities- hartal, blockade— forced them to come back to the UK.
The RBA has 24 directors at the moment and is registered under the company name of RB Airlines Limited, they said.
BDNEWS/1609 hrs.
