Biman Bangladesh Airlines will commence twice weekly scheduled flights
to both New York and Dhaka in the spring of 2014; a long-haul operation
made possible thanks to Birmingham’s £40m runway extension soon to open
Birmingham will become only the third UK airport to have direct flights
to New York JFK and offer the only non-stop service between the UK
and Bangladesh outside of London
Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Bangladesh’s National Flag carrier, will operate
between Dhaka, Birmingham and New York’s John F. Kennedy airport using
a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, offering Business and Economy seating
Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport’s Chief Executive, said, "The Midlands is a
diverse region that offers enormous trade and cultural opportunities to
carriers looking to widen links outside of the south east, and this is exactly
the type of operation that our longer runway has been built to cater for"
"With a growing number of long-haul flights launching from Birmingham,
we’re clearly demonstrating the desire by airlines to operate to and from
the Midlands and take advantage of our strong catchment, excellent location
and transport links, and world class facilities, all available thanks to our
major investment programme"
The Midlands has the UK’s second largest Bangladeshi community outside of
London, home to more than 50,000 people from Bangladeshi origin. The New
York JFK sector is expected to be particularly popular with Midlanders wanting
to reach the city for business and leisure purposes and will complement
Birmingham Airport’s current daily scheduled flight to New York Newark Airport
Kevin Steele, MD & CEO of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, added, "Birmingham’s
strong Bangladeshi community, new transit and terminal facilities and of
course its extended runway capability that will allow us to fly direct from
Dhaka next year were all key factors that attracted us to this new venture"
"We also recognise the many opportunities to build business and cultural
links between Dhaka, Birmingham and New York and see how successful
other long-haul routes have been in recent years from Birmingham"
"Customers flying with us can expect world class service, great cuisine, higher
than normal free baggage allowance and excellent value-for-money fares, and
we look forward to launching this important new route in the spring"
Biman Bangladesh’s main hub is at Shahjalal International Airport (DAC),
which is the primary air travel gateway into Bangladesh. The airline provides
international passenger and cargo services to Asia and Europe, as well as
major domestic routes inside Bangladesh. It has air service agreements
with 42 countries and currently flies to 16 different countries
Birmingham Airport’s 400m runway extension will allow aircraft to fly an
extra 2000 nautical miles from Birmingham, to reach destinations in the
Far East, South America and the west coast of the US directly
Flights will be on sale early in the New Year with launch fares starting from
£100 plus taxes each way between Birmingham and JFK and £150 plus taxes
each way between Birmingham and Dhaka. Once on sale, tickets can be booked via
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| Thursday 19 December 2013 |
