Bangladesh adopts open-sky policy

DHAKA: The interim cabinet in Bangladesh has adopted a temporary open-sky policy at its international airports for designated airlines to meet the huge rush of middle-east bound passengers.

An official handout issued late yesterday said a cabinet meeting with Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed took the decision as the state-run Bangladesh Airlines failed to operate adequate flights for Bangladeshi workers employed in the Middle East and Malaysia, reports said here on Thursday.

The Zia International Airport in Dhaka, Shah Amanat International Airport in southeastern port city of Chittagong and Osmani Airport in northeastern Sylhet will remain open to designated airlines for three months starting from October.

"The cabinet has approved the proposal to adopt the open-sky policy for a limited period to carry passengers from Bangladesh," an adviser told a newspaper after the meeting.

Civil aviation secretary Sheikh Altaf Ali earlier said the air service agreements with local and foreign airlines would be suspended for the period so that they can operate as many flights as they wish to carry passengers from Bangladesh.

The decisions came as Bangladesh’s crucial job markets in Eastern countries and in Malaysia were exposed to threats with hundreds of workers losing their jobs for failure to reach their destinations in time due to air ticket shortage.

According to official records, expatriate workers remit about $6 billion a year and the manpower export, this year, has increased by 123 per cent.

Expatriate Welfare ministry officials said nearly 1.4 lakh workers were now ready to leave for Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in next two months