Air Astra: Passenger response exceeds expectations

Air Astra has received a huge response from passengers as it completed its maiden month of operations on two domestic routes. The response exceeded its expectations.

The private airline began flight operations from Dhaka to Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar on 24 November. According to the company, almost 94 per cent of seats were occupied in the Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar flights while the figure is 84 per cent for Dhaka-Chattogram flights.  

Imran Asif, chief executive officer of Air Astra, said, “We have received more response than the expectation in passenger transport. The number of passengers was low on the Dhaka-Chattogram route in first two weeks, but it has increased now.”  

Air Astra started commercial operations with three flights a day on the Dhaka-Cox's Bazar-Dhaka route and two flights on the Dhaka-Chattogram-Dhaka route. It later increased the number of flights to four on each route, considering the passenger demand.  

About the positive passenger response, Imran Asif said there is no major difference among the aircraft of three private airlines operating in the country. But Air Astra is better than others in terms of service quality and branding.   

A training center has been opened at Uttara to maintain and improve the quality of service, the CEO said, adding they are training their employees to ensure quality service to the passengers. 

Air Astra now operates flights with two aircraft. It will add eight more aircraft to its fleet next year. One of them will be brought from France in the first week of the next month. Then it will start flight operations on the Dhaka-Sylhet route. 

Imran Asif said they operated test flights on the Dhaka-Sylhet route and will run commercial flights once the aircraft reaches the country. He also disclosed their plan to run flights on Dhaka-Jashore and Dhaka-Rajshahi routes after adding another aircraft to its fleet by the end of January. 

Meanwhile, Air Astra is going to launch its own sales centers in different areas of the country next month so that passengers can easily collect tickets.

The Air Astra CEO said they are working to be the most popular airlines in domestic routes with quality service and skilled manpower. Also, they have plan to run international flights by the end of next year.