Regent Airways launches flights to Doha, Qatar -The Asian Age

Regent Airways has reached out to peninsular Arab country Qatar. The inaugural flight on Dhaka-Doha-Dhaka route left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Friday night. With this, Regent Airways, one of the top private carriers of the country, has expanded its operation on seven international routes.

Initially, Regent Airways would operate flights on the Doha route four days a week. Passengers would be carried by a new generation 167-seat Boeing 737-800, which has been added to the fleet recently. The flight has 8 business class and 159 economy class seats.

Chairman of the Regent Airways Yasin Ali inaugurated the new route at the VIP Lounge of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Regent Airways Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lt Gen (Retd) M Fazle Akbar, Ashis Ray Chowdhuary (Advisor) Regent Airways, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Akhtar U Ahmed were  present there.

 Doha is Regent Airway's second destinations in the Middle East. Regent Airways started its journey to the Middle East by launching flights to Muscat, the capital of Oman, in April last year.

Regent Airways chairman Yasin Ali said with the introduction of Doha route, Regent has reached another milestone in its efforts to achieve its goal of becoming a trusted travel partner of Bangladeshi expatriates in the Middle East. Flight operation on Regent's next destination - Saudi Arabia's Dammam -- is going to start next month. He said Regent routes would be expanded to the other countries in the Middle East gradually.

Regent CEO Lt Gen (Retd) M Fazle Akbar said, flights on Doha route have been introduced to cash in on the opportunities of expanding the job market for Bangladeshis in Qatar ahead of the FIFA world cup in 2022 in that country. Regent will also fly on Chittagong-Doha-Chittagong route from the first week of next month."

The inaugural flight left Dhaka for Doha with 167 passengers on board at 10:45pm on Friday. The inaugural flight was welcomed by water cannon salutes after it reached Hamad International Airport in Doha around 1:45am local time.

Including all taxes, the lowest fares on Dhaka-Doha route are Tk 23, 858 (one way) and Tk 40,596 (return). The lowest fares on the Doha-Dhaka route are 700 Qatari Riyal and return 1,151 Qatari Riyal. Besides, every passenger would be able to carry 20 kg while leaving the country and 40 kg while returning from Qatar as free baggage.