The Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) is owed Tk 1223 crore by four private airlines. Out of these four airlines, three are currently closed. The amount the three closed airlines owe is over Tk 1192 crore. This information was divulged in the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism on Sunday (September 17, 2023) held at the Sangsad Bhaban. Also read: Irregularities in leasing Egypt Air planes: ACC questions 7 CAAB officials The Parliamentary Committee on Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism wanted to know how much money CAAB owes or is owed  in their dealings with domestic private airlines companies. CAAB gave a report in this regard in the parliamentary standing committee meeting today with its chairman RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury in the chair. According to the sources, CAAB in its report said that it is owed a total of Tk 1,222.98 crore by Regent Airways, Novo Air, United Airways and GMG Airlines. Among them, only Novo Air still flies. As of last May, two other private airlines, US Bangla and Air Astra, both of which are still in business, have no debt.  Also read: Civil Aviation Ministry asked to take action against CAAB officials for irregularities CAAB is owed more than Tk 408 crore by Regent Airways, while GMG Airlines owes more than Tk 396 crore. CAAB is owed Tk 388.97 crore by United Airways and from Novo Air it is owed Tk 29.48crore. After the meeting, a press release of the Parliament Secretariat informed that the parliamentary committee has recommended taking necessary measures to collect the money owed by the private airlines. Meanwhile, the report of the sub-committee on the investigation of the Hotel Intercontinental renovation project which was presented in the previous meeting of the committee was in the discussion list of today’s meeting. The report claimed that it was not needed to spend exorbitantly on the renovation works. Also read:  ACC finds 19 areas of corruption in Biman, Caab Government money has been unnecessarily spent for the benefit of certain people, the report said. According to the report, the rooms of 26 square meters has been increased to 40 square meters. As a result, the number of rooms was reduced to 226 from 272. The report claims that this was not necessary. Apart from this, the committee recommended to widen the road from Cox's Bazar airport to the city on an urgent basis and improve its beauty, maintain the cleanliness of the beach and implement the activities with mutual coordination. The committee members Mosharraf Hossain, Ashek Ullah, Syeda Rubina Akhtar, Kaniz Fatema Ahmed were present in the meeting.

United Airways (BD) Limited authority has reiterated its commitment to return the airline to operations at the earliest possible time while complying with the existing rules and regulations of the country. The current board of independent directors informed this at its 17th Annual General Meeting for the year 2021-22 on Tuesday on an online platform. Read more: 'Air Incheon-Korean Airlines’ introduces direct cargo flight from Bangladesh to South Korea The board informed the shareholders of their plan to revive the Airline, initially with cargo operation and begin passenger services within the next three years. The board also expressed gratitude to the government, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, BSEC and other concerned parties for all kinds of support and cooperation extended to the airline. Besides, six other AGMs pending since 2016 were also held to meet the BSEC and Joint Stock Company regulations. Read more: US-Bangla Airlines wins Best Domestic Airlines award The AGM was presided over by Kazi Wahidul Alam, Chairman and was attended by the Directors: Prof. Dr. M Sadiqul Islam, Prof. Md. Maksudur Rahman Sarker, Prof. Dr. Md. Badruzzaman Bhuiyan, Mohammed Shah Newaz, Syed Ershad Ahmed and Managing Director (Current Charge) ATM Nazrul Islam. Auditor’s Reports and Financial Statements of the company for all the mentioned years were presented at the AGMs and were approved by the majority of votes casted. Hundreds of shareholders also participated at the AGM and appreciated the role of the present Board for its initiative in bringing back the airline to operations. United Airways was established in 2005 and later in 2010 was listed with Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). In February 2016, the airline stopped flight operations without any prior announcement leaving thousands of general shareholders in uncertainty and despair.