DHAKA: Bangladesh’s flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines is preparing to launch a regular route from Dhaka to Karachi at the end of January, in what will be its first flight to Pakistan’s largest city since 2012.
After decades of acrimonious ties, Bangladesh-Pakistan relations have been growing since a student-led uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.
Plans to restart direct flights between the two countries were first announced in August, when Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Dhaka, the first such high-level engagement in more than a decade.
“We have been engaged in discussions with Pakistan authorities for the last couple of months to launch direct flights from Dhaka to Karachi. Now we have the permission,” Biman spokesperson, Boshra Islam, told Arab News.
“We are working on final preparations … We hope that the inaugural flight will commence some time this month; it’s a direct flight from Dhaka to Karachi.”
Authorization for Biman to operate flights between Dhaka and Karachi has also been confirmed by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, which granted an initial three-month authorization, valid until March 26.
The direct flights mark the latest development in Bangladesh-Pakistan relations, after Dar’s visit last year concluded in the signing of agreements on trade and diplomacy.
There had been no substantive engagement between Islamabad and Dhaka since the 1971 war — which led to the country’s independence from what was then West Pakistan.
Sheikh Hasina was closely allied with India, where she is exiled. While her removal from office was followed by a cooling of relations between Dhaka and New Delhi, exchanges with Islamabad started to grow.
In November 2024, Pakistani cargo ships began to arrive at Bangladesh’s main Chittagong port, for the first time since 1971.
Preparations for the Dhaka-Karachi flights are taking place amid tense relations between Pakistan and India, with Islamabad closing its airspace for Indian-registered aircraft until late January.
As the shortest route from the Bangladeshi capital and Pakistan’s largest city is through Indian airspace, Biman has acquired “the necessary permission from Indian authorities in this regard,” according to a Biman official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“As of now, we have a plan to begin the Dhaka-Karachi direct flight from 29th January. We will use Indian air space for this flight … The details of the exact flight schedules are yet to be finalized,” he told Arab News.
The Indian airspace route is the “best option” for Bangladesh’s Dhaka-Karachi flights, as the shortest possible route is the most cost-effective, said Azad Zahirul Islam, former director of Air Traffic Services and Aerodromes at the Civil Aviation Authorities of Bangladesh.
“According to International Civil Aviation Organisation rules, Bangladeshi aircraft can take Indian airspace for traveling to any third country,” he told Arab News. “It’s the freedom of the air space in a normal situation. So, it should be the same in the case of Dhaka-Karachi flights.”
The new flight route is expected to boost people-to-people ties and trade relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“With the beginning of this flight, people-to-people contact between the two countries will be further enhanced,” he said.
“These direct flights will also open the window for boosting trade relations between Dhaka and Karachi. Direct air connectivity with any country is always good for us. As it will bring the two nations closer in terms of connectivity, it will definitely bear some strong significance politically.”
