US sanctions on Iran: Biman facing problems resuming Dhaka-Rome flight
The national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines is facing problems regarding resuming its Dhaka-Rome-Dhaka flight due to the US sanctions on Iran.
According to Biman sources, the flight on this route will require flying over Iran and thereby making payment to the Middle East country for overflying charges as per international rules.
"However, the US is not allowing us to pay Iran anyway for overflying charges on grounds of its sanctions on the country. If we cannot pay overflying charges to Iran, it will not allow us to overfly," said a top Biman official wishing anonymity.
"We have already paid some money to Iran and the US is creating problems due to it," said the official.
"We will have to change the flight path using the sky of three more countries if we cannot use Iran's sky, which will extend the flight duration by around one and half hour, alongside raising the cost of operating the flight."
The flight on this route will require flying over Iran. US is not allowing us to pay Iran anyway for overflying charges on ground of its sanctions on the country. If we cannot pay overflying charges to Iran, it will not allow us to overfly.
It would take around nine hours for the Biman flight to reach Rome from Dhaka using Iran's sky.
Biman insiders said using skies of three countries instead of Iran will be more costly as more fuel will be needed as well as paying overfly charges to three countries instead of one.
As such, passengers will eventually suffer as the air ticket will be pricier.
"The US should understand that we are flying commercial passenger planes and we are not going to any country which is banned for travelling," said a Biman official.
"We have already informed the US through the foreign ministry in this regard, but we are yet to get any response," the official added.
The flight is originally planned to overfly the skies of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia to reach Rome.
Aiming to resume the flight on Dhaka-Rome-Dhaka route from March 26 marking the Independence Day, Biman had already started selling tickets for the flight with special discounts.
Between March 26 and March 31, the flight BG-355 will depart Dhaka every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 2:00am local time and reach Rome at 7:00am local time.
From April 1, the flight will depart Dhaka on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 3:00am and reach Rome at 9:10am (local times).
The flight will leave Rome at 10:45am and land in Dhaka at 11:45pm (local times).
The minimum one-way fare on Dhaka-Rome route, including all taxes, will be Tk 64,355 for economy and Tk 1,44,105 for business class, while the round-trip will be priced at Tk 1,04,568 and Tk 258,568 respectively.
On the Rome-Dhaka route, the one-way ticket fare will be Tk 48,788 for economy class and Tk 1,22,663 for business class, while the round-trip will be priced at Tk 89,852 and Tk 2,22,236 respectively.
The flight will be operated with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Biman operated flight with Rome from 1981 till 2015.