Biman suspends U.S. flights

Asia-based national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines has scrapped flights to New York as it tries to cut its losses on the route.

The last of the cash-strapped carrier's flights from Dhaka to New York-JFK (via Dubai and Brussels) left Dhaka at 10.26am on Saturday (July 29) with 268 passengers on board.

Although the United States has a sizeable market of Bangladeshi expats, the airline was reportedly losing up to $150,000 per flight due to "ageing aircraft and [the] soaring cost of aviation fuel", a spokesperson told the Gulf Times.

Biman had originally suspended flights on the route at the start of June, but due to mounting public pressure from expatriate Bangladeshis, the airline continued its twice-weekly service until July 29.

Despite the added surcharge of $200 per person it had imposed in the interim, the airline continued to make a loss on the route and was given clearance by Bangladeshi officials to stop flying aircraft between the two countries.

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