The commencement of direct flights between Dhaka and Male by Bangladeshi private carrier US-Bangla Airlines has strengthened air connectivity between the two countries, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said during her visit to the Maldives Thursday. "Our national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines is also going to introduce flights with the Maldives via India's Chennai. We hope there will be more people-to-people contacts and exchange of tourism cooperation due to the flight operation on this route," she added. Read: Biman to introduce flights with Maldives: Hasina To meet the long-standing demand of more than 1 lakh expatriate Bangladeshis in the Maldives, private carrier US-Bangla started operating flights on the Dhaka-Male-Dhaka route, three days a week, on November 19, Md Kamrul Islam, general manager (public relations) of US-Bangla Group, said. Direct flights are expected to play an important role in elevating tourism and trade relations between Bangladesh and the Maldives. The minimum return fare of US-Bangla's Dhaka-Male-Dhaka route has been fixed at Tk45,545.

US-Bangla Airlines will start direct flights from Dhaka to Male, the capital of Maldives, for the first time on November 19. The US-Bangla holiday packages in the Maldives will be effective from November 19 to December 20. A minimum of Tk58,990 has been fixed per person, according to a media statement. Read: US-Bangla to resume Dhaka-Kolkata flights from October 21 The private carrier will operate flights on the Dhaka-Male-Dhaka route three days a week. Read: US-Bangla to launch Dhaka-Male-Dhaka flights from Nov 19

The US-Bangla Airlines on Friday added another 72-seater brand new ATR 72-600 model aircraft to its fleet.