Jashore, Barishal Routes: Air passenger traffic dips

Air passengers from Dhaka to Jashore and Barishal have dropped significantly as many southbound travellers are preferring to travel by road following the inauguration of Padma Bridge in late June.All three airlines -- Biman Bangladesh, US-Bangla and Novoair -- are facing difficulty to attract passengers on these routes.

They have lowered ticket prices to the two most sought-after domestic locations, but according to sources at the three airlines, the action has not yet had any influence on the weak passenger volume.

Due to losses, Novoair suspended its Barishal route flights from yesterday.A Biman spokesperson said the airline, which previously operated seven flights each week on the Barishal route, will now run three only.

Biman's airfare on the Jashore route now costs around Tk 3,200 while on the Barisal route, it is around Tk 3,000, as compared to the previous fare of Tk 3,500 to Tk 3,700, respectively, a Biman official told The Daily Star.

US-Bangla Airlines is now charging around Tk 3,500 on the Barishal route and Tk 3,700 on Jashore, as compared to the previous Tk 4,500 to Tk 5,000 airfares.US-Bangla Airlines General Manager (Public Relations) Kamrul Islam said the number of passengers on Barishal and Jashore routes have decreased following the inauguration of Padma Bridge.

He, however, said the months of June-July are considered an off-season for air travel and travellers are enjoying using the recently opened Padma Bridge, as it save them both time and money.

Meanwhile, sources in the US-Bangla said one-third of their flights remain empty after the inauguration of the Padma bridge.

Kamrul said they are still operating six daily flights to Jashore and two daily flights to Barishal.

Rezaul Islam, an employee of a private company, told this newspaper that before the opening of Padma Bridge, he used to travel to Barishal by air to save time as it took more than nine to ten hours by road to reach there.

"But now I can travel to Barishal by road within three hours from Dhaka," he added.

Monirul Islam, another private service holder who also used to fly to Barishal regularly, said, "It takes three or four hours to travel by bus, but we can start the journey immediately after work instead of waiting for a flight. This saves both time and money."