Dhaka-Toronto flight: Commercial viability up in the air

Biman Bangladesh Airlines' decision to operate direct flights between Dhaka and Toronto may not be commercially viable, feared multiple aviation experts.

The high ticket prices, load factor and other issues like not following proper flight operation procedures raised concerns among them.

The first experimental commercial flight on the route departed Dhaka last night with 110 passengers.

Of them, around 50 were government officials and their family members who travelled to Toronto at the cost of public money.

Talking to The Daily Star, several senior pilots and some Biman officials questioned the logic behind such experimental commercial flights.

They also said it was a rare practice for other commercial airlines.

Biman is using its 298-seated Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on this long haul route that will take around 16 to 17 hours to reach the destination without any stopover depending on different variables including wind speed and load factor, Biman officials said.

Mahbub Jahan Khan, director (corporate planning and training) of Biman, said the flight would take extra two hours to travel to Toronto for using an alternative route for the Russia-Ukraine war.

Biman Managing Director and CEO Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal said the 298 seater flight will carry only 120 to 130 passengers to Toronto as it would also have to carry a huge amount of fuel, weight of luggage, and others.

The aircraft, however, will be able to carry around 210 passengers while returning to Dhaka, he added.

Mahbub Jahan Khan said Biman has set the two-way price of economy class base fare at Tk 120,647, premium economy class at Tk 183,530 and business class Tk 268,547 for the route.

The airfare will be further increased during operations of commercial flights.

Aviation expert ATM Nazrul Islam asked whether passengers concerned about prices, especially students and Bangladeshis living in Canada, would choose Biman on the route with an additional $200 to $300 payment in the premium class compared to other airlines.

"Has Biman conducted any market analysis or study before fixing its airfare?" he questioned.

He said many passengers might choose other foreign carriers because of less fare with a stopover of two to three hours in their hub airports.

Dhaka airport sources said Turkish Airlines, Qatar and Emirates were now operating flights to Canada with a stopover in their respective countries.

Biman MD told The Daily Star that they were trying to get the fifth freedom facilities from Canadian authorities.

The fifth freedom facility guarantees the right to fly between two foreign countries when the flight is originating or terminating in its home country.

This means airlines can fly between two foreign countries as long as it's part of a larger route from or back to its home country.

"If we can avail this opportunity, this route will be economically viable," he said.

ATM Nazrul said Biman should conduct study on who would be their target class and fix the fares accordingly.

Biman MD said in the experimental flight they would assess all those issues and launch regular commercial flights on the basis of the assessment from June.

Previously, Biman had operated flights to Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Yangon, Japan, Delhi and different other destinations, but those routes were suspended later as they were incurring losses.

Biman flights to New York have remained suspended since July 2006 for similar reasons.