TDS Desk:

Once-booming private helicopter sector in Bangladesh seems in a shambles with fleets significantly downsized and hitting headwinds, insiders said, as some bigwig entrepreneurs land in a business quagmire.

Recently, they said, four helicopters were sold off and many others got grounded following the suspension of operations of the owning companies.

The size of the private-sector helicopter fleet comes down crashing to 30 now, said the industry-insiders, pointing out that in total 42 helicopters were registered with civil aviation as of 2023.

The number of helicopter flights a month was 350 two years ago, but now it is merely 150, they added.

South Asian Airlines Ltd (SAAL) was the strongest player in the field two years back, having nine choppers in their fleet.

They procured Robonson 44 in 2016 but sold that later. Then they started operating a fleet of 9 helicopters owned by different corporate groups.

“Now, SAAL is on the verge of collapse and is planning to shut down operations. It is now operating two helicopters owned by Akiz group,” said one in the industry in presenting the state of the helicopter sector at present.

Some major companies are unable to pay the hanger cost and the licence-renewal fee, and it is alleged that the costs are raised by the aviation authorities illogically.

“Previously, it was Tk100 per year for each square foot, now it rose to Tk 960,” says Sq Leader (Rtd) Guljar Hossain, former operation director of SAAL.

Another firm, R&R Aviation owned by Sikder Group, has 7 helicopters and Beximco Aviation owned by Beximco Group has 2 copters: an R-66 and a Bell-430. But all these nine are grounded with their operations remaining suspended as both the scam-hit owning companies are incapacitated to pay the arrears with the regulators.

Previously, Partex Aviation Limited closed their operations during the previous Awami League regime of Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India during the July-August mass uprising.

Meanwhile, Meghna Aviation Limited with 5 choppers, Akiz Group with 5, Bashundhara Airways Limited with 3, Square Air Limited with 3, and BRB Air Limited with 2 choppers continue their operations.

On the other hand, Impress Aviation Limited and Bangla International Airlines Limited, each with one helicopter, stay afloat.

“One year ago, we predicted the helicopter sector would be doubled by 2030 with the addition of 30 more choppers and the monthly flights were forecast to rise to 600 from 350, but the scenario has changed now,” a top official of an aviation company, adding that the monthly helicopter flights nosedived to around 150 now.

Helicopter services saw a boom time with the acceleration of economic boom few years ago with the business tycoons having preferred to move with choppers to leapfrog nagging traffic congestions in the highways. It costs Tk 70,000 to Tk 2.5 lakh per hour to fly by helicopter to anywhere in the country.

But stakeholders feel that after the fall of the many top business groups, who amassed huge wealth illegally as crony capitalists during the previous regime, the sector has been in a crisis as many of those highflyers are on the run or behind bars.

According to reports, Bangladesh has a rich history of helicopter operation.

The legacy of civil helicopters in the country dates back to 1950s, during the American exploration of oil and gas.

Before Bangladesh’s liberation, in 1963, Pakistan International Airlines launched the world’s then-biggest commercial helicopter network with scheduled flights between Dhaka and regional cities covering 20 towns and cities. Back then, passengers were charged Rs 25 per hour.

In 1999, Bangladesh saw its first available helicopter for chartered flights as Best Aviation Ltd brought one BK 117 on ACMI lease and started operations including Medevac.

The first of the 42 helicopters purchased by a Bangladeshi company was an AS 350B. Nitol Group procured it in 2000 but stopped operation later. And then, Sunman Group formed South Asian Airlines Ltd by purchasing a Robinson 44 helicopter.

In 2000, Aero Technologies Ltd brought AS 350B and MI-8MTV helicopters to fly VIPs, Medevac, chartered and cargo flights.