Dhaka: Bangladesh plans to sign new air service agreement and review the existing ones with several countries, including India, as local private airlines look for expanding their services abroad, a report said here today.

"We will review the ASA (Air Service Agreement) with India as well as other countries.... As deemed necessary," a local newspaper the New Age quoted Bangladesh's Civil Aviation Secretary Shaikh Altaf Ali as saying.

Officials said the government has decided to take the step as the country's four private airlines expressed their willingness to operate flights on international routes, particularly to some Indian cities and Middle East countries, to become financially viable. They said as part of the process, the Civil Aviation Ministry would hold a meeting with its Indian counterpart in New Delhi in mid-February to review the air service agreement, which was first signed in 1978.

Two nations sign ASA to allow commercial civil aviation between their territories. Of the five local airlines, the state-owned Biman Bangladesh and private GMG Airlines operate flights on international routes.

Currently Bangladesh has ASA with 45 countries and India's private Jet Airways started operations in Bangladesh two months ago. Officials had earlier said the country's air traffic had increased around eight per cent in the past several years due to an increase in the movement of both inbound and outbound passengers especially expatriate Bangladeshi workers.

But around 70 per cent of traffic is now carried by the foreign airlines because of the incapacity of the Biman.

Source : PTI