Biman's much-awaited maiden flight to Toronto flies half empty

Dhaka : Biman Bangladesh Airlines' much awaited maiden flight on Dhaka-Toronto route on July 27 flew with 138 empty seats, despite much hype and preparations undergoing for months. 
160 tickets for the flight to Toronto was sold while 171 for the return flight to Dhaka, said Zahid Hossain, Managing Director and CEO of the airline.
The airline is operating Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the route which has 298 seats.
Reports claim, if the number of passengers does not increase, the flight will not be commercially viable.
Aviation experts claimed the maiden flight fell short due to the lack of effective and strategic marketing efforts.   
Initially Biman authorities claimed it would be a direct flight but later changed the decision and announced that there would be a stopover in Manchester. Once again, the airline shifted away from that move and further declared the stopover would be in Istanbul, Turkey for one hour for refuelling.
Decisions about the flight has been changed so many times, due to lack of prior planning and research, customers got confused and are fearing to put their trust on the airline's flight, said experts.    
Biman is operating two weekly flights on the route on every Sunday and Wednesday. 
The return fare in economy class has been fixed at BDT 1.80 lac, said the airline.