Vistara’s maiden flight on Delhi-Dhaka route takes off

Dhaka: Indian full-service carrier Vistara has started operating scheduled passenger flights on Delhi-Dhaka route from today. The maiden flight to Dhaka took off from Delhi airport at 9:20 am carrying 61 passengers while the return flight to Delhi departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 10:20 am carrying 54 passengers.

The move follows the recently signed bilateral air bubble agreement between Bangladesh and India which is aimed at helping airlines operate international flights with certain restrictions amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

A ceremony was held to inaugurate the maiden flight at HSIA today which State Minister Md Mahbub Ali attended as the Chief Guest while Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami attended as the Special Guest. The guests cut a ribbon at the airport to inaugurate the flight operations.

Kaizad Postwalla, Head of Sales – International (Overseas Market) of Vistara was also present on the occasion along with M Mafidur Rahman, Chairman, Civil Aviation Authority and Touhid-ul Hasan, Director, HSIA.

Under the agreement, Vistara will operate two weekly flights every Thursday and Sunday on the Delhi- Dhaka route with the aircraft A320neo. The flight will depart Delhi at 9:20 am while the return flight will leave HSIA at 10:20 am.

Moreover, Md Manzur Jalil, General Manager of MAAS Travel and Tours Ltd which is the General Sales Agent of the airline in Bangladesh attended the ceremony along with Shohag Hossain, Managing Director, Rhythm Group, parent company of MAAS Travels was also present.

Under the agreement, airlines from both the countries will operate 56 flights per week between India and Bangladesh which will accommodate air travel of 10,000 passengers