National flag-carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines will start operating direct flights on the Dhaka-Toronto route tomorrow (Saturday).
The first commercial flight will be on test basis while the regular flights will begin in June and three flights will be operated in a week.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali disclosed this at a press conference at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the city on Thursday.
"There has been long demand for direct flights to Toronto from Dhaka. And the first direct test commercial flight will take off at 11.30 pm on Saturday," the minister said.
The aircraft is scheduled to come back on March 30, he noted, adding the direct test flight will take 18 hours and regular flights 15-16 hours to reach the destination.
The minister expressed the hope that direct flights to Toronto will be viable as around 1.0 million Bangladeshi expatriates live in Canada.
He also said they have conducted a market research on this.
Speaking at the event, Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dr Lilly Nicolls termed the occasion 'very special' because the historic first direct flight between Dhaka and Toronto by Biman Bangladesh Airlines will take place on March 26- the Independence Day of Bangladesh.
She said Canada has a long lasting diverse relationship with Bangladesh based on shared values like promotion of democracy, protection of human rights and respects for inclusion and diverse values.
She also mentioned that the link between the two countries is important and the bi-lateral trade stood at US$3billion.
Responding to a question over the test flight, the minister termed it 'a prestige issue' saying due to Covid-19 many countries could not operate direct flight there.
He explained that Canada needs 12 weeks to integrate all the required measures.
Regarding the allegation over Biman's mismanagement, the minister also said, "I won't say that there is no mismanagement in Biman but the carrier is passing hard time. Many airlines were shut due to Covid." Responding to reporters, Ms Nicolls also echoed the minister and said all these are technical matters that take time to ensure security.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft is capable of carrying around 298 passengers; but Biman is likely to keep more than half of its seats empty to save weight during the test flight, said Md Mahbub Jahan Khan, its director (marketing and sales), in response to a query.
