Bangladesh inks Switzerland, EU Air Service Agreements

In a major move in the country‍‍`s aviation sector, Bangladesh has signed separate Air Service Agreements (ASA) with Switzerland and the European Union in a bid to establish and boost direct air connectivity with more countries in Europe.

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal Mafidur Rahman and Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) Director General Christian Hegner signed the ASA on behalf of their respective sides in Bern, Switzerland on June 4, reports BSS citing a CAAB press release issued on Friday.

Air service agreements (ASA) are formal treaties between countries – accompanying memoranda of understanding (MoU) and exchanges of formal diplomatic notes. It is not mandatory to have an ASA in place for international services to operate, but the cases where services exist without treaty are rare.

This agreement opens the door for direct air travel between Bangladesh and another European country, said the CAAB.

Under the agreement, designated airlines from both countries will be able to operate 7 passenger flights and 7 cargo flights per week.

Additionally, the agreement allows the designated airlines from both countries to operate flights through code-sharing with their own and third-country airlines.

Swiss International Air Lines and Edelweiss Air AG have been nominated from Switzerland‍‍`s side, while Biman Bangladesh Airlines, US-Bangla Airlines, and Novoair have been nominated from Bangladesh‍‍`s side to provide services between the two countries.

On June 7, another bilateral air service agreement was signed between Bangladesh and the European Union (EU) in Brussels, Belgium.

The main objective of the agreement is to ensure the implementation of uniform regulations for air service operations with EU member countries.

CAAB chairman and Director of the Directorate General for Mobility and Transport of the European Commission Filip Cornelis inked the deal on behalf of their respective sides.

Bangladesh Civil Aviation and Tourism secretary Mokammel Hossain were present at both the signing ceremonies in Switzerland and Belgium.