DHAKA, Nov 24, 2022 (BSS) - Air Astra, the country's newest private airlines today operated its maiden commercial domestic flight on the Dhaka-Cox's Bazar route with a 70-seat turboprop ATR 72-600 aircraft.

The airliner, which spread its wings in the Bangladesh sky as a 'new local carrier' after nine years, with the flight 2A 441, that left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 08:00 am to the beach city, a press release said here. 

Initially, the airliner planned to operate 3 flights on the Dhaka-Cox's Bazar-Dhaka route and 2 flights on the Dhaka-Chittagong-Dhaka daily.

Within the next three months, Air Astra will expand its operations to all domestic destinations as new aircraft would be added to its fleet, the release added. 

Earlier on November 3, Air Astra got the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) to operate commercial domestic flights from the regulatory body Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB). 

Currently, apart from state-owned Biman Bangladesh Airlines, two local private carriers - US-Bangla Airline and Novoair - are operating both domestic and international flights.