Jin Air, a South Korea-based airline, has been illegally operating commercial flights for three years under the guise of diplomatic flights, depriving Bangladesh of at least $5 million or Tk 55 crore in revenue.
Recently, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has asked the civil aviation ministry to stop the operation of such unauthorised flights and launch an investigation into it.
There are no direct flights between South Korea and Bangladesh. Even there is no agreement between the two countries in this regard. Jin Air has received permission only to operate repatriation and diplomatic flights to bring and take citizens stranded in the two countries during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Various taxes and fees, including airport tax and embarkation fee, were waived for these flights operated under diplomatic facilities.
However, Jin Air was supposed to pay royalty fee to Biman Bangladesh Airlines. This fee can range from a minimum of $10 to a maximum of $45 per ticket. In this case, the condition was that under no circumstances, this flight could be operated commercially.
Expressing his anger, the foreign minister has said the matter has come to their attention and this practice has been ordered to stop. The company has not been allowed to operate such flights after October 16.
No one knows how they have been operating flight illegally for a long time. They claim that Protocol Wing has given them permission. “As protocol department could not say anything clearly about this, so we have asked the ministry concerned to stop it and ordered an investigation,” he added.
On October 19 this year, Jin Air applied to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism for permission to operate commercial flights. Three days later on October 23, Jin Air was granted permission.
Jin Air will initially operate one flight a week on Mondays. The number of weekly flights will increase to three in future, but the airline is selling tickets online until March 2024.
In this regard, the booking officer of Jin Airways said that they have received permission for charter flights. “But we are selling tickets up to 30 days in advance. If the flight does not operate on the day of departure, we will refund the customer.”
According to aviation sector experts, Bangladesh has been deprived of at least $5 million or Tk 55 crore in revenue due to the flight operation by Jin Air in the last three years.
They say that Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport authority, Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority, and Biman Bangladesh Airlines would have received this money. Jin Air sells tickets to passengers at high prices despite being a low-cost budget airline. While tickets for a single direct flight from Dhaka to Seoul are available at Tk 57,000, Jin Air ticket prices start at Tk 77,000.
When contacted, deputy secretary at the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Rocksinda Farhana declined to make any comment in this regard.
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Deputy Director Daulat Uzzaman said recently, "They come through diplomatic channels, so we don't have to do much."
He added: “They got clearance through diplomatic channels. We just want to see if there is no objection certificate or not.”
Ashraf Ali Farooq, Additional Secretary (Aviation & CA) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, did not receive the phone call when contacted.
However, joint secretary (aviation and CA) of the same ministry Saeed Qutb said that nothing can be said without seeing the file.
On last Monday night, the chartered flight left Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Seoul. It is learnt that Jin Air did not pay royalty fee to Biman Bangladesh Airlines for this flight even before the flight.
