US-Bangla Airlines (BS, Dhaka) will add three ATR72-600s to its fleet this year with the first of the trio nearing delivery. According to Skyliner Aviation, S2-AKG (msn 1495) is undergoing pre-delivery paint at Toulouse Francazal ahead of delivery later this semester.
The turboprops will be the Bangladeshi carrier's first ATR - Avions de Transport Régional metal given it already operates a fleet of three Dash 8-400s and four B737-800s.
Last year, US-Bangla's General Manager (Marketing Support & Public Relations), Kamrul Islam, told the New Age newspaper that in addition to the ATR72s, the carrier would also add two more B737-800s to its fleet in 2019.
Collectively, they will be used to open up three new international routes from Dhaka to Chennai in India, Colombo International in Sri Lanka, and Malé in the Maldives.
Until this development, US-Bangla's network had included extensive domestic coverage with international services covering Thailand, Qatar, India, Malaysia, Oman, Singapore, and China.
