Regent Airways (Dhaka) will take delivery of its first three B737-800s on lease from an undisclosed source. According to the Air Finance Journal, the jets are on 5 year contracts and will arrive in May, September and December on this year.

Currently, the Bangladeshi carrier operates two B737-700s, one DHC-6, and two Dash 8-300s, and, in addition to the trio of B737-800s, plans to introduce two E145s/E170s as part of a USD100million expansion programme.

The added capacity will be used to increase the carrier's route network which currently includes domestic Bangladeshi flights and services to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur International, and Singapore Changi regionally. Among the new destinations being considered are Saidpur locally and Doha Hamad International, Muscat, Abu Dhabi International, Riyadh, Jeddah International, Gaya (India), and Johor Bahru regionally.