Bangladeshi airline inflated airfares to KL in May, says report

 

A probe by Bangladesh’s civil aviation ministry reportedly found that Biman Bangladesh Airlines blocked many seats on Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur flights for specific travel agencies, which then allegedly sold the tickets at much higher prices. (Biman Bangladesh Airlines pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The spike in the price of Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur flight tickets on Bangladesh’s national carrier four months ago, which prevented thousands of Bangladeshi migrant workers from heading to Malaysia, was found to have been artificially inflated by the airline’s officers.

A probe by Bangladesh’s civil aviation ministry found that Biman Bangladesh Airlines blocked a large number of seats on Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur flights and reserved them for specific travel agencies, which then sold the tickets at much higher prices, Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star reported.

Between April 15 and May 31, the price of an economy class seat on a Biman flight from Dhaka to Kuala Lumpur had risen by 260% from 20,475 takas (RM773) to 73,710 takas (RM2,782) before taxes, it said.

The last date for sending workers to Malaysia was May 31. Ticket prices for Biman flights shot up abnormally during that time,

 the report read.

Citing an internal investigation by the civil aviation ministry, the daily reported that the tickets were blocked under the names of former civil aviation minister Muhammad Faruk Khan and Biman’s former managing director Shafiul Azim.

The ministry’s report also implicated the airline’s retired marketing director Mohammad Salauddin, the daily said.

It said the ministry called for disciplinary action to be taken against those involved.

The price hike led to planes flying to Kuala Lumpur with empty seats, even as migrant workers at the airport were desperately trying to get to Malaysia. Several thousand migrant workers failed to reach Malaysia before the May 31 deadline.

On March 1, Malaysia’s home ministry announced that unused quotas for foreign workers would be cancelled on June 1.

On May 30, immigration director-general Ruslin Jusoh said the large number of foreign workers arriving at KLIA Terminals 1 and 2 was due to employers rushing to bring them into the country before the June 1 deadline. - FMT