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Biman slashes
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Mafidur Rahman, told this correspondent that CAAB used to earn about Tk 3 crore a day from HSIA but now it earns about Tk 1 crore.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines in its latest decision suspended flights to Muscat after the government of Oman decided not to allow any Bangladeshi in due to the Covid-19 outbreak, said Tahera Khandaker, the carrier’s deputy general manager of public relations.
Earlier, Biman suspend flights to Dammam, Madina, Jeddah, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Kolkata and New Delhi in India, and Kuwait, Qatar and Kathmandu as the governments there decided to ban travel from Dhaka, added Tahera.
The national carrier is now operating flights to London, Manchester, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok. But flights to even these destinations have dropped.
Biman now flies to Kuala Lumpur 12 times a week instead of the usual 20, to Singapore five times instead of 14, and to Bangkok four times instead of 14, Biman sources said.
The carrier incurred a Tk 270 crore loss since February, said a top official of Biman.
Tahera said between February 28 to March 28, Biman was scheduled to operate 914 international flights and carry 2,21,574 passengers. But the carrier could operate 584 flights and carry 1,22,963 passengers at best.
M Mohibul Haque, senior secretary at the civil aviation ministry, told The Daily Star that Biman is heading towards a serious financial crisis.
Apart from incurring losses due to suspension of flights, the national carrier was also losing money as it was carrying less freight and was earning a lot less from ground handling, Mohibul said.
If the situation does not improve in the coming months, Biman will be in difficulty to pay its 4,500 employees, of whom 3,329 are permanent, Biman officials said.
The airlines may have to seek financial assistance from the government, he said.
He also said unlike organisations of other sectors, Biman would not be able to recover the losses with extra effort and that was why the carrier is now trying to cut costs.
Global aviation industry may lose $113 billion in sales if the coronavirus continues to spread, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Just three weeks ago, the IATA had been expecting lost sales in the range of $30 billion.
Airlines in Europe and Asia would bear the brunt of the pain, according to the IATA.

KSA detains
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winding down that campaign after 15 months, but the authorities later said they would start going after graft by ordinary government employees.
An anti-corruption body known as Nazaha tweeted late on Sunday that it had arrested and would indict 298 people on crimes such as bribery, embezzlement, and abuse of power involving a total of 379 million riyals ($101 million).
Among those implicated are eight defence ministry officers suspected of bribery and money laundering in relation to government contracts during the years 2005-2015, and 29 interior ministry officials in the Eastern Province, including three colonels, a major general and a brigadier general.
Two judges were also detained for receiving bribes, along with nine officials accused of corruption at Riyadh’s AlMaarefa University which resulted in severe damage to a building and caused deaths and injuries, Nazaha said.
The agency provided no names and few other details about the cases.
RENEWED CRACKDOWN
The arrests follow a new crackdown against senior royals and top officials earlier this month, according to several reports, in what appears to be the crown prince’s latest effort to consolidate control of all major levers of power inside the kingdom.
Among those held in the sweeping clampdown are two of the most prominent royal family members: Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, a younger brother of the king, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the king’s nephew and former crown prince.
While Saudi authorities have not officially commented on the arrests, reports triggered rumours about a possible coup attempt or sudden deterioration in the health of 84-year-old King Salman.
MBS, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, has reportedly fuelled resentment among some in the ruling family by tightening his grip on power and some question his ability to lead following the international backlash to the 2018 murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.
Some royals and members of the business elite have also expressed frustration with MBS’s leadership following a major attack on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure last year that was claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, sources told Reuters news agency.
A Saudi-UAE-led coalition fighting the Houthis to restore exiled President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government has so far killed tens of thousands of people in Yemen, relief agencies say.
The fighting has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with millions displaced and in need of aid.