Photo: Nomadic Photos-
Metropolis Report-
Unable to transfer the $24 million it made from ticket sales and freight movement here to Istanbul, Turkish Airlines has been running just one flight per day for a year. Officials with the airline claimed that they are no longer selling as many tickets in Dhaka and are advising customers to purchase tickets online or from countries other than Bangladesh.
According to officials of the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), other international airlines have lowered flight frequency to Dhaka to follow suit because they too are unable to remit their earnings to their home nations.
These airlines include Singapore Airlines, Malindo Air, Kuwait Airways, and Cathay Pacific. Tickets now cost more because there aren’t as many seats available. Since March 2022, all foreign airlines operating in Bangladesh have been prohibited from remitting money back home.
In terms of preventing airlines from receiving payments, Bangladesh ranks second worst in the world behind Nigeria, according to the International Air Transport (IATA), the trade body for almost 300 airlines, or 83 percent of all air activity. It announced that $214 million in airline subsidies had been withheld by Bangladesh, a move that could prevent airlines from providing service to Bangladesh.
According to the IATA, the restricted funds for the global aviation industry climbed by 47% to $2.27 billion in April 2023 from $1.55 billion in April 2022. The top five nations—Nigeria ($812.2 million), Bangladesh ($214.1 million), Algeria ($196.3 million), Pakistan ($188.2 million), and Lebanon ($141.2 million)—account for 68.0 percent of the blocked funds.
To allow airlines to repatriate the funds, the IATA asked governments to uphold their duties under treaties and international accords. Even if they have money in Bangladesh, officials of foreign airlines in Dhaka claimed they must bring in US dollars to pay for refueling their planes there.
According to aviation experts, as a result of airlines’ reducing their flight frequency, fewer seats are now available, which has resulted in higher ticket pricing. If they can’t get the money home in time, companies would be forced to cancel flights.
