Pioneers of logistics Bengal Airlift diversifying operations continuously

Dhaka : Bengal Airlift Group has crossed 40 years of operations on August 19, 2022. Over the years, the group and its operations have gone up by leaps and bounds. Currently, the group has a diverse range of operations including logistics, travel, cargo, manufacturing, courier, and many others.
Arif Rahman, Managing Director of Bengal Airlift Group said this while talking to The Bangladesh Monitor at his office in the capital recently. 
Rahman mentioned, Bengal Airlift Group is currently the online GSA of four airlines and offline GSA of three airlines. 
In cargo, the group is the online GSA of Gulf Air, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways and offline GSA of Royal Jordanian and United Airlines. 
In passenger, Bengal Airlift Group is the GSA of Air France KLM and Rail Europe. 
"We are in a continuous process of expanding our GSA business," claimed Rahman.  
"The country has a lot to achieve in terms of infrastructure and security. Once these are developed, more European carriers will come to Bangladesh and we will be able to become GSAs of more airlines," he added.  
It may be mentioned here, Bengal Airlift Group is also an agent of the American courier company UPS in Bangladesh. 
"Each Strategic Business Unit of the company is unique to its own performance. Each SBU has grown at par or even better than the respective industry," Rahman shared.  
Currently, there are 1100-1200 freight forwarders in the country. Hence, the market share is difficult to ascertain, he further mentioned.  
However, Bengal Airlift Group is one of the pioneers in the industry. In terms of logistics and freight forwarding, the group is among the top 4-5 locally grown companies in the country. 
Rahman also mentioned the group's further plans to expand more. Currently, they are focusing on e-commerce, cross border trading, time to market, warehousing, and last mile delivery elements of logistics. 
"We are planning to go into full-fledged warehousing operations in a strategic location in Keraniganj near the Mawa Highway. It is also near the river port," mentioned Rahman. 
"If we get proper policy support, there could be a demand for even a private ICT industry there which will cater to the local market, river port, transhipment between India and Bangladesh and the southern part of the country," he claimed. 
Also, Arif Rahman noted, Bengal Airlift Group is also one of the oldest travel companies in the country. While travelling practices are rising among middle-class and upper middle-class segments of the country, the group has worldwide partnerships in key destinations in South Asia and Europe. 
"We are expanding to Greece even," he said, adding, "Medical tourism is another segment we are focusing on. We have done an MoU with an Indian company in this regard to facilitate medical tourism from our country."