Air link with Rajshahi
Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh comprises 16 districts with an area of 34,495 square kilometres. According to 2001 population census, 3,02,02,000 people live in these 16 districts. It is assumed that the present population is about 4 crore. There were two active airports until January 2007 at Rajshahi and Saidpur. Bangladesh Biman used to operate flights from Dhaka to these airports which facilitated movements of high officials, prospective investors and the patients. Suddenly, Biman stopped their operation on the plea that these routes were non profitable from their business viewpoint.
We are anxious to know whether the authorities studied the matter properly. In 1970, the fare of Dhaka-Ishwardi flight was Tk 40 when the price of gold was Tk 144 and there were two flights each day. During 1988-2000 there was one flight every morning on Dhaka-Rajshahi-Dhaka route and passengers used to fight for a ticket. Such a situation continued until Biman changed its flight schedules for Rajshahi and Saidpur routes at lunch hours followed by delayed flights and sudden cancellation of flights.
During this period GMG tried its best to continue flights to Rajshahi facing huge loss as GMG was given permission to operate Rajshahi flights more or less at the same time with Biman. GMG is a private airline and Biman is a national airline. Biman's losses are paid from the taxpayers' accounts including the people of Rajshahi Division. The people concerned know the background and stories of the losses projected by Biman.
People of Rajshahi Division also need to travel by air to save their journey time. If there are flights in the morning and in the evening people will definitely travel by air. When Biman closed its operation to the airports of Rajshahi Division the flights were at such odd times that they did not match the needs of the passengers.
Now we see that all the private airlines are operating morning flights to Chittagong and Sylhet airports. Therefore, on behalf of the people of Rajshahi Division we request Bangladesh Biman to operate flights to those airports at lunch time, and immediately start at least one flight every morning on the Dhaka-Rajshahi-Saidpur-Dhaka route. We understand that this will also facilitate the movements of high officials from Dhaka to the most neglected part of the country. We also request the Civil Aviation authorities to look into the matter.
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