Private carrier United Airways has suspended flight operations due to
unavailability of aircraft, creating uncertainty for those who have
bought tickets with the airline.
“As soon as the aircraft become serviceable, flights will resume,”
the carrier said in a posting on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website
yesterday.
Sources, however, said the aircraft are grounded for maintenance, but
the airline does not have enough funds to do the required servicing,
which is a matter of high cost.
United Airways was desperately looking for funds from different
sources. Unless the company can arrange the funds, it may not be able to
resume flights, they said.
The net operating cash flow of the airline also shows its financial
weakness. The net operating cash flow per share was only Tk 0.26 during
the July-December period of last year, which was Tk 0.40 a year earlier,
according to data on the DSE website.
Tasbirul Ahmed Choudhury, founder chairman and managing director of
United Airways, and Farhad Hossain, director of sales and marketing, did
not answer phone calls.
This is not the first time the private carrier has suspended its
flight operations. Domestic and international flights of the airline
remained suspended for several days in September 2014 over a conflict
among its directors.
Set up in 2007, the airline has 11 aircraft in its fleet: two Airbus
310-325, five MD-83, three ATR-72-212 and one Bombardier Dash-8 100. It
was listed on the stock exchange in 2010.
It has permissions to operate domestic flights to Chittagong, Sylhet,
Jessore, Cox's Bazar, Rajshahi, Barisal, Saidpur and Ishwardi.
On the international front, it has permissions to fly to Dubai, Kuala
Lumpur, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Jeddah, Bangkok, Muscat and Singapore.
The latest trouble at the airline, however, did not have a major impact on its share prices.
On the DSE yesterday, its shares, with market capitalisation of Tk
481 crore, traded between Tk 7.2 and Tk 6.8, before closing at Tk 7.
Earnings per share of the airline during the July-December period of last year were Tk 0.07, which were Tk 0.39 a year earlier.
