Malaysia-bound Bangladeshi workers exasperated over airfare surging three times over

Since November last year, airfare for a single passenger rose to Tk 85,000-90,000, which was around Tk 25,000-30,000 earlier

Noakhali’s Joynal Abedin recently landed a job with a construction company in Malaysia under the government-to-government memorandum of understanding to export manpower Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur agreed on in 2021.

The company offered him a contract with a decent wage after his mandatory health checks were completed recently.

However, Joynal is not sure when he can start work for his new employers as tickets for every airliner that operates flights from Bangladesh to Malaysia have already been sold out until the end of March this year.

Joynal was told by airliners that the demand for air tickets to Malaysia is so high that the available one-way tickets after March may cost him over Tk 100,000, which is not usually over Tk 30,000 in regular times.

These men were supposed to pay only Tk 79,000 under the agreement. But they are on the verge of spending over Tk 400,000, and they still don’t know when they will start working.

Shariful Hasan, head of BRAC’s Migration Programme

Even if the man from Noakhali secures a one-way ticket to Kuala Lumpur, his total cost of moving to Malaysia will shoot up to over Tk 400,000, which is almost five times the amount that the two governments agreed under the 2021 MoU.

“The airfare they [the airliners] are asking me to pay equals my two months’ salary. I’m not sure how I can afford it, which is jeopardising my employment with the new company,” he said while speaking to bdnews24.com.

Joynal, however, is not alone in this predicament.

Shariful Hasan, head of BRAC’s Migration Programme, said at least 100,000 more Bangladeshi men are on the same boat as Joynal, who have completed their recruitment process and completed the mandatory health checks but are still unable to start work at their new places of employment due to either unavailability or the sky-high prices of one-way tickets to Malaysia.

“These men were supposed to pay only Tk 79,000 under the agreement. But they are on the verge of spending over Tk 400,000, and they still don’t know when they will start working,” he said.

WHY THE TICKET PRICES WENT THROUGH THE ROOF

Stakeholders said the Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training or BMET has been issuing clearance papers for exporting workforce to at least five to six thousand men per week since August last year under the agreement, which raised the average numbers of Malaysia-bound Bangladeshis significantly.

The airliners which operate direct flights between the two countries- Biman Bangladesh, US-Bangla Airlines, Air Asia, Malaysian Airlines and Batik Air [formerly Malindo Air]- do not offer a sufficient number of flights from Dhaka to carry such a massive surge of passengers at present.

Similar phenomena were observed when the labour market was reopened in Gulf countries after the pandemic when airliners charged enormous amounts of airfare from the passengers travelling to the Middle East.

Before November last year, a Malaysia-bound passenger typically paid around Tk 25,000-30,000 for a one-way flight. Since November, the airfare has risen to almost Tk 85,000-90,000 for a one-way flight.

SN Manzur Murshed Mahbub, president of the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh or ATAB, blamed airliners and their ticketing agents for such a hike.

“Yes, I admit that the demand is high, and the Bangladeshi currency’s devaluation has played a crucial part in a hike. But even that doesn’t justify such a disproportionate hike. Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority must intervene to discuss with the airliners to keep the airfare at a reasonable amount,” he said.

A quick search on Sunday evening at the websites of US-Bangla, Air Asia and Batik airliners showed that a one-way direct flight to Kuala Lumpur from Dhaka on Feb 28 will cost a passenger Tk 80,244, Tk 76,896 and 80,232, respectively.

The Air Asia website also showed on Sunday evening that a direct flight to Kuala Lumpur from Kolkata on Mar 1 will cost a passenger Rs 8,000, equivalent to around Tk 10,000.

A direct flight from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur takes about four hours. From Kolkata, it takes about three hours and 50 minutes.

Interestingly, if a Kuala Lumpur-bound passenger, flying with Thai Airways or Air Asia, choose to take a layover in Bangkok, the airfare comes down to Tk 52,000-55,000. However, the travel time will increase to at least six to 15 hours, depending on the availability of the transit flights.

But there is a catch.

“If passengers pick one airliner to go to Bangkok and a different one to Kuala Lumpur, they would require a Thai visa. However, if the passengers stick to the same airliners, they would not require a Thai visa,” explained a Dhaka airport official.

We can’t increase the number of flights on a whim. We are required to get approval from several authorities to be able to do that.

Kamrul Islam, general manager of US-Bangla Airlines

Kamrul Islam, general manager of US-Bangla Airlines, said the crisis of tickets would go away once the airliners start operating more flights.

“However, we can’t increase the number of flights on a whim. We are required to get approval from several authorities to be able to do that,” he said.

BRAC’s Shariful stressed the importance of quick government intervention to resolve the ongoing airfare issue and bring in all matters related to exporting manpower under a single coordinating cell.

“There is an expatriates welfare ministry to deal with expat-related matters, while a different ministry deals with airfare. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs handles the high commissions, missions and embassies abroad, while the Ministry of Home Affairs deals with matters related to passports and immigration. So, whenever there is a crisis, expat Bangladeshis never get a resolution on time. It’s high time to form a coordinating cell representing all these ministries under one roof to deal with manpower export matters.”

[Writing in English by Adil Mahmood]