Biman Bangladesh Airlines' online ticket sales have been suspended for the last three days after its online sales partner Travelshop Ltd suspended the service, causing problems for passengers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Travelshop claimed they were forced to suspend the service as Biman did not pay its dues.

"Travelshop was hired temporarily in 2019 to sell tickets online under a mutual agreement to encourage the country's service providers," Biman Managing Director and CEO Dr Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal told The Daily Star today.

"But the company [Travelshop] repeatedly failed at various stages to provide the full services expected by the airlines. They suddenly stopped their services from Tuesday in an unethical manner and tried to create confusion," he said.

"We are going to ensure the provision of advanced online services through a world-recognised service provider soon," the Biman MD said.

 "For the time being, we will send tickets to passengers' mobile phones or residents if they call us," said Saleh.

Purchasing, changing and refunding tickets for all routes through all of Biman's authorised travel agencies and Biman call centres is underway, he said.

In addition, the sales centre at Biman's head office in Balaka will remain open 24 hours a day from today to provide services to passengers.

A source at Travelshop said, "Since the agreement, we have been providing the service to Biman without any hindrance and there were no complaints in this regard."

The source also said, "Tickets worth Tk 125 crore have been sold online since the pandemic started in 2020.

"How can we sell so many tickets if the quality of our services was bad? If the airline does not pay the server rent, then it is normal that the service will be suspended. We have no incompetence here," he also said.