B’desh to explore operating private airlines to Colombo

In an effort to lure more tourists to Sri Lanka from its neighboring countries, initial talks have kicked off on exploring the option of having direct flights between the island nation and Bangladesh.

In a meeting between Foreign Minister G.L Peiris and Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen at the State Guest House Padma in Dhaka earlier this week, discussions took place in increasing tourist traffic between the two countries. The two ministers acknowledged that direct connectivity would be helpful between the two countries, a statement by the Department of Government Information highlighted.

As a first step forward in this regard, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Momen expressed the interest in operating a private Bangladesh airline to Colombo.

Bangladesh has four domestic airlines; US-Bangla Airlines, Novoair, Regent Airways, and United Airways.

Currently, direct flights between Colombo and Dhaka are only operated by national carrier SriLankan Airlines.

For the first 10 months of 2021 ending October, Sri Lanka welcomed a total of 273 tourists from Bangladesh, an 84.5 percent contraction from the corresponding period in 2020.

According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), as geographic proximity is one of the main drivers of destination choice now, pent-up demand from countries including Bangladesh is likely to have driven the growth momentum in arrivals experienced thus far.