Civil Aviation and Tourism MInister Muhammad Faruk Khan on Thursday in Parliament dismissed a complaint that most of the time Biman aircrafts fly with vacant seats.

“It is not true that Biman tickets are not available despite having vacant seats and most of the time Biman (aircrafts) fly with vacant seats,” he said while replying to a question from opposition chief whip Mujibul Haque (Chunnu) in the House.

Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury tabled the question-answer session at the beginning of the day’s sitting which started around 4pm.

The Minister said Biman Bangladesh Airlines tickets can be purchased by passengers from Biman's website, GDS (global distribution system), mobile app, call center and any authorized domestic/foreign travel agents apart from Biman's own sales center.

“No Biman ticket can be booked without passenger information. As a result, there is no scope for anyone to book multiple tickets at once without passenger information,” he said.

He said any agency will not be able to book any ticket without passenger information. If an agency makes a booking with false or fake information, pecuniary punishment and other actions are taken against it, he added.

Besides, every ticket has a booking period within which the ticket is automatically canceled if not purchased, said the Civil Aviation Minister.

Talking about peak season and off-peak season, he said the aircrafts can fly with vacant seats when the pressure of passengers is low but it is not the scenario for all around the year.

The Minister, however, explained as to why some seats remain vacant or unsold in some cases.

The reasons include failure of passengers to reach the airport in time despite having confirmed tickets, the problems related to fake visa and fake information, and immigration related legal complexities.