US-Bangla Airlines

US-Bangla Airlines (Bengali: ইউএস বাংলা এয়ারলাইন্স) is a privately owned Bangladeshi airline headquartered in Dhaka and based at Shahjalal International Airport under the umbrella companies of US-Bangla Group.[3][5] The airline is the largest private airline in Bangladesh in terms of fleet size and overall second largest airline after the flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines.[6][7] Though Airlines is the flagship company of the parent US-Bangla Group, it owns numerous businesses in other industries such as real estate, education, media, electronics, consumer foods.

US-Bangla Airlines
IATA ICAO Callsign
BS UBG BANGLA STAR
Founded2010 (2010)[1]
Commenced operations17 July 2014 (2014-07-17)
HubsShahjalal International Airport
Focus citiesShah Amanat International Airport
Fleet size16[2]
Destinations20
Parent companyUS-Bangla Group[3]
HeadquartersDhaka, Bangladesh[4]
Key people Captain. Lutfor Rahman (COO),
Websitewww.usbair.com

History

US-Bangla Airlines commenced operations with domestic flights on 17 July 2014.[5][3] Initially, the airline launched two domestic destinations, Chittagong and Jessore from its hub in Dhaka.[5] Flights to Cox's Bazar from Dhaka were launched in August. In October, the airline launched flights to Saidpur.[8]

In July 2016, the airline announced plans to phase in its first three Boeing 737-800 aircraft in September of the same year, and to subsequently launch new international routes, for example to Singapore and Dubai.[9] On 29 April 2019, the airline started flights to Guangzhou, becoming the first Bangladeshi airline to operate flights to China.[10] The airline started flights from Dhaka to Chennai (via Chittagong) on 31 March 2019 also becoming first Bangladeshi airline carrier to operate flights to Southern India.[11]

In February 2019, US-Bangla Airlines announced an order for four ATR 72-600 aircraft, to be used on domestic flights. On 22 March 2019, the first aircraft was delivered from Toulouse to Dhaka via El Dabaa and Muscat.

In September 2019, US-Bangla Airlines become the second largest airline after Biman Bangladesh Airlines, in Bangladesh in terms of fleet size.[7]

The airline was supposed to start direct flights from Sylhet to other Bangladeshi cities such as Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Jessore, as well as a flight from Chittagong to Jessore, in order to make the city of Sylhet more accessible, from mid 2020.[12]

The airline also announced its plans to add four more international routes to Abu Dhabi, Colombo and Malé in the beginning of 2021.[13] However the plan was hit by COVID-19 pandemic.

Plan of expansion

In November 2021, a senior authority of the airline expressed the plan of expansion of the airlines for both of its destinations fleets, as the airline is willing to add seven new international routes, i.e. Jeddah, Dammam, Medina, Riyadh, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Colombo from Dhaka. The airline also planning to introduce Dhaka–New York flight in 2023, if Bangladesh earn Civil Aviation Category–I by 2022. Subsequently, few destinations in Europe, i.e. London, Paris, Amsterdam and Rome are being planned to be introduced by 2023.[14] The airline will also add eight new Airbus A321LR to its fleet by 2023.

Corporate affairs

Its headquarters are in the Baridhara Diplomatic Zone in Dhaka.

Destinations
US-Bangla Airlines ATR 72-600
US-Bangla Airlines Boeing 737-800
US-Bangla Airlines De Havilland Dash 8-400

As of February 2021, US-Bangla Airlines serves the following domestic and international destinations:[15] The airline started flights to Dubai–International on 1 February 2021, which is its tenth international destination.[16]

Country City Airport Notes/Ref.
 Bangladesh Barisal Barisal Airport
Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport Focus city
Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar Airport
Dhaka Shahjalal International Airport Hub
Jessore Jessore Airport
Rajshahi Shah Makhdum Airport
Saidpur Saidpur Airport
Sylhet Osmani International Airport
 China Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport [17]
 India Chennai Chennai International Airport [18]
Kolkata Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport
 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur International Airport [19]
 Maldives Malé Velana International Airport [20]
   Nepal Katmandu Tribhuvan International Airport Terminated
 Oman Muscat Muscat International Airport
 Qatar Doha Hamad International Airport [21]
 Singapore Singapore Changi International Airport
 Thailand Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport [22]
 United Arab Emirates Dubai Dubai International Airport
Sharjah Sharjah International Airport [23]

Fleet

As of January 2020, US-Bangla Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[24][25][26][2]

US-Bangla Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
B E Total
ATR 72-600 74–7272 Plans to add 3 more by June 2022.[27][28]
Boeing 737-800 6-8156164 [28]
Airbus A321LR –8--- [29][30]
Airbus A330-200 -1--- [31]
Airbus A330-300 -1--- [32]
Boeing 737 MAX 8 -1--- [33]
De Havilland Dash 8-400 31-7474
Total 16 16

Accidents and incidents

Flight 211
A US-Bangla Airlines De Havilland Dash 8-400 registered as S2-AGU, which crashed as US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211.

On 12 March 2018, US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q-402 with registration S2-AGU, crashed while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport, killing 51 of the 71 people on board.[34][35] The final accident report, published on 27 January 2019, concluded that "the probable cause of the accident is due to pilot's failure to understand the situation and handle the aircraft. Furthermore, Captain Abid was condescending and did not follow procedure when talking to his first officer. The first officer was a 25-year-old female, and captain Abid has a known tendency to discriminate against those of the female gender. Due to which the aircraft crashed".[36][37]

Other incidents

On 26 September 2018, US-Bangla Airlines Flight 141, a Boeing 737-800 with registration S2-AJA, took off from Dhaka airport at 11:30 am with 164 passengers and seven crew members on board. It was scheduled to land at the Cox's Bazar Airport at 12:30 pm. On approach to Cox's Bazaar, the nose-wheel mechanism jammed and prevented the wheel hatch from opening. The pilot then put the Boeing 737-800 into a holding pattern over Chattogram to burn off fuel so that it would be lighter and the risk of fire on impact would be reduced. The plane eventually touched down at 1:18 pm. Some passengers received minor injuries as they attempted to disembark the aircraft hurriedly.[38]

Other Industries under US-Bangla Group

Though US-Bangla Airlines is the flagship company of the conglomerate, it is arguably one of the fastest rising conglomerates in Bangladesh. It rebranded its current name from US-Bangla Assets in 2009.[39] Its other notable business is real estate company US-Bangla asset which is developing Purbachal American City, one of largest commercial and residential real estate projects in Bangladesh. The group now owns educational businesses such as Green University of Bangladesh, one of the earliest private universities of Bangladesh,[40] and US-Bangla Medical College and Hospital. The group also owns one of the largest leather companies in Bangladesh namely US-Bangla Leather. Other than that it owns US-Bangla Hi-tech Industries which produces many electrical and electronic products. It has its footing in Media businesses through US-Bangla Media and Communications. US-Bangla Food is its sister company in consumer food industry.[39]

See also

References
  1. "US-Bangla Airlines Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net.
  2. Ibne Kamal, Md Ashequl Morsalin. "US-Bangla's fleet expands to 14". UNB. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  3. "About Us". US-Bangla Group. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016.
  4. "Contact Us". US-Bangla Airlines. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  5. "US-Bangla Airlines takes to the skies". The Daily Star. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  6. "US-Bangla airlines adds its 10th aircraft". The Independent. Dhaka. 20 October 2019.
  7. ইউএস-বাংলায় যুক্ত হলো দশম এয়ারক্রাফট. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 20 October 2019.
  8. "US-Bangla launched Dhaka-Saidpur flights from Oct 2". The Independent. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  9. "US-Bangla to procure 4 aircraft". The Independent. Dhaka. BSS. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  10. দেশের প্রথম কোনো সংস্থা হিসেবে ইউএস-বাংলা চীনে যাচ্ছে. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 20 March 2019.
  11. "US-Bangla Airlines offers Dhaka-Chennai direct flight". The Daily Star. 20 March 2019.
  12. "US-Bangla eyeing to make Sylhet more accessible". The Daily Star. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  13. "US Bangla set to add flights to 4 new int'l destinations". Dhaka Tribune. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  14. "Bangladesh - US-Bangla to launch flights on seven new int'l routes in 2022". menafn.com. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  15. "US-Bangla Airlines". US-Bangla Airlines.
  16. "US-Bangla airlines spread wings to Dubai". US-Bangla airlines spread wings to Dubai | theindependentbd.com. Independent BD. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  17. Lui, Jim (11 April 2018). "US-Bangla Airlines revises Guangzhou launch to late-April 2018". Routes Online. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  18. "Dhaka-Chittagong-Chennai flight schedule". US Bangla Airlines.
  19. "US-Bangla flights to Singapore and KL from March". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  20. "US-Bangla starts direct flights to Maldives as aviation looks to recover from pandemic". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  21. "US-Bangla airlines set to fly Doha". The Daily Star. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  22. Liu, Jim (27 March 2017). "US-Bangla Airlines expands international service in 1H17". Routesonline. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  23. "US-Bangla Dubai flights from February 2021". Dhaka Tribune. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  24. "Global Airline Guide 2018 (Part One)". Airliner World: 5. October 2019.
  25. "Boeing 737-800 fleet details". US-Bangla Airlines.
  26. "Dash 8Q fleet details". US-Bangla Airlines.
  27. "US-Bangla Airlines ads 13th aircraft to its fleet". UNB. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  28. "US-Bangla Airlines to begin Dhaka-Colombo flights from January". Dhaka Tribune. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  29. https://menafn.com/1103180043/Bangladesh-US-Bangla-to-launch-flights-on-seven-new-intl-routes-in-2022
  30. https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/109233-us-bangla-airlines-dusts-off-longhaul-plans-eyes-a321lrs
  31. http://airsoc.com/articles/view/id/61a465c0c4263cd4638b4567/us-bangla-airlines-to-add-a330s-in-late-2q22?
  32. http://airsoc.com/articles/view/id/61a465c0c4263cd4638b4567/us-bangla-airlines-to-add-a330s-in-late-2q22?
  33. https://unb.com.bd/m/category/Business/us-bangla-airlines-to-operate-boeing-737-max-8/13011
  34. "Nepal air crash: 49 dead as plane veers off Kathmandu runway". BBC News. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  35. "Death toll in Nepal plane crash rises to 51, Bangladeshi experts join probe". Hindustan Times. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  36. Tourism (PDF), NP.
  37. "Accident: US-Bangla DH8D at Kathmandu on Mar 12th 2018, landed across the runway and fell down slope". The Aviation Herald.
  38. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-8Q8 (WL) S2-AJA Chittagong-Shah Amanat International Airport (CGP)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 19 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  39. "US-Bangla Group gets dubious rise by dodging huge revenue and hampering economic growth of the country". The Daily Sun. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  40. "Green University inks MoU with US-Bangla group". The Financial Express. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2022.

41. Us-Bangla Airline overview ShareTrip. 20 January 2022.

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