On January 29, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) have signed an extension to their existing bilateral agreement, allowing 5th freedom rights on flights between the two countries, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper has said.
Currently, there are no direct flights between Japan and Bangladesh, but with the addition of the fifth freedom rights, this could provide the additional stimulus allowing services to commence. ICAO defines the 5th freedom of the air as "the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one state to another state to put down and to take on, in the territory of the first state, traffic coming from or destined to a third state."
Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG, Dhaka) has in the past operated flights to Japan. The 2x weekly service had a stop in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, but due to the previous more restrictive bilateral, it was unable to pick up passengers to or from Thailand and carry them to Japan.
With increased trade between the countries, indirect passenger volumes have been rising, driving the Bangladesh authorities to seek the removal of the restrictions on air travel. Following the new accord, Biman is planning to introduce flights between Dhaka and Tokyo Narita, as well as other Japanese destinations. As a part of the revised bilateral agreement, Bangladeshi airlines can operate passenger and cargo flights to all airports in Japan, except Tokyo Haneda.
There is still more work to do before Bangladesh's airlines will be able to take full advantage of the agreement. "Biman Bangladesh, as well as the private airlines of the country, will be able to operate in Japan owing to this agreement," said CAAB Chairman Mafidur Rahman to the newspaper. "But to operate a flight, we need permission from authorities of many countries. So, we will be starting all the official procedures soon."
