Passengers can now fly directly from Manchester Airport to Bangladesh, a country which has the fastest-growing economy in the Asia-Pacific region.
Bangladeshi carrier Biman celebrated the inaugural flight from Manchester Airport to Sylhet and Dhaka last night, at an event attended by civic leaders and representatives from the Bangladeshi community across the North.
The three-times-a-week service has been welcomed by the more than 70,000 people of Bangladeshi origin living in the North and comes on the back of a delegation led by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham travelling to both cities in October.
Following that visit, and last night’s launch of the Biman service, a series of further activities are planned to foster closer ties between the city region and Bangladesh.
In the coming months, delegations from Dhaka and Sylhet will visit Manchester to explore opportunities in a range of business, cultural and educational fields.
A return trip will take place later in the year, with Greater Manchester representatives travelling out to share expertise in areas such as infrastructure and waste management.
Bangladesh, once associated with famine, natural disaster and poor industrial conditions, has made enormous strides by finding new markets for its exports and attracting large numbers of foreign investors.
At a time when many countries are looking inwards and closing their doors, Bangladesh is open for business.
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The country, formed in 1971, has the world’s eighth-largest population with 165 million inhabitants; one of the globe’s fastest-growing GDP rates; and ambitious plans that give it the potential to become an ever-more valuable economic partner for Britain.
There are up to 300,000 people of Bangladeshi origin in northern parts of the 海角视频, from Birmingham to Scotland, for whom this service will be their closest direct route to Bangladesh.
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Andrew Cowan, CEO of Manchester Airport, who was part of the delegation that travelled to Bangladesh at the end of last year, said: “There is no better way to mark the start of a New Year than with the launch of an exciting new long-haul route from Manchester Airport like this one.
“We know there is a significant Bangladeshi community across our catchment area and this Biman Bangladesh service will be hugely popular with friends, family and business contacts travelling in both directions.
“And we are confident it will also open up a wide range of fresh collaboration opportunities between Greater Manchester and both Dhaka and Sylhet.”
Bangladesh’s national airline will operate the routes from Manchester to Dhaka and Sylhet on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a flight time of just 10 hours.
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The carrier will utilise two brand-new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, with 24 seats in business class and 247 in economy.
The service will fly from Manchester to Dhaka via Sylhet and will then return to Manchester from Dhaka directly.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “When I visited Bangladesh last year, one of the main missions for our trip was to re-establish a direct air connection between Manchester and Bangladesh.
“It is wonderful to see it actually starting service and we are confident that this link will bring trade, cultural and educational benefits to Greater Manchester and the rest of the country. Just as importantly, it should provide a vital travel route for the friends and families of people of Bangladeshi heritage living in Greater Manchester and further afield.
“I will never forget my first trip to Bangladesh and have agreed to set up new partnerships with my counterpart Mayors in Sylhet and Dhaka to focus on a wide range of development and trade issues as well as collaboration on tourism, sport and culture.
I am certain that the growing cooperation between our cities and countries will only increase demand for this direct service."
Biman’s Regional Manager, Debabrota Mallick, said: “A direct flight from Manchester to Sylhet, and Manchester to Dhaka has been on our radar for quite some time.
“As part of our business strategy, our main focus has been to connect Manchester to both these thriving parts of Bangladesh. Not only was this due to high demand from the Bangladeshi community in the North, but we also saw a good opportunity to increase tourism and business potential which has been increasing year-on-year.
“After announcing the resumption of the Manchester flight, we saw the first two weeks of flights being completely sold out.
"We are very pleased to see such an amazing response, and more Bangladeshi passengers continuing to book through Biman Airlines.”