The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday launched a drive at the Biman Bangladesh Airlines Headquarters and collected several documents to investigate irregularities in ticketing for the Dhaka-Guangzhou route.

Biman’s maiden flight on the Dhaka-Guangzhou route took off on August 18.

A team of the anti-graft body, led by its Assistant Director Afnan Jannat Keya, visited the department concerned of the Biman office on Wednesday, top officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism and the ACC told FP.

The ACC team met with the officials concerned, including Biman MD and CEO Zahid Hossain, during their visit from 11am to 11:30pm.

The ACC media wing also said that the team went to the Biman office as part of an investigation over Dhaka-Guangzhou route ticketing irregularities and collected relevant documents.

ACC sources further said the commission is investigating the Dhaka-Guangzhou route ticketing irregularities and travel agency Takeoff Travels as per a recommendation from the ministry.

Biman MD and CEO Zahid Hossain told the media on Thursday that they would fully cooperate with the ACC to root out corrupt officials.
Syndicate of seven officials

A syndicate of Biman officials is reportedly ignoring decisions taken by the national flag carrier’s top management in order to continue selling tickets through travel agencies.

The issue came to light following Biman’s maiden Dhaka-Guangzhou flight on August 18.

As many as 177 tickets for the flight were sold through the travel agency Takeoff Travels, even though the Biman management had issued notices specifying that tickets for the flight would only be sold from official Biman counters.

According to documents from Biman and travel agencies, ticket sales to travel agencies are primarily handled by Biman Marketing and Sales Directorate GM Mohammad Salahuddin, Manager E-commerce Abu Zafor Mohammed Shamsul Alam, Revenue Management Manager AKM Shohidul Hasan, GM (Sales) Dilip Kumar Chowdhury, GM (Revenue) Mohammed Mizanur Rashid and Deputy General Manager (Pricing and RMS) Mohammad Ali Osman Noor and Manager Commercial Anayet Hossain.

Emails exchanged between the officials showed GM Salahuddin asking the others to ensure that they coordinated between themselves on the sales. The emails were not sent to the Biman MD.

Requests from Takeoff Travels for tickets were also made through email to the aforementioned officials.

When Ataharul Islam, manager of Takeoff Travels, requested payment of special group fare for 20 passengers on August 14, GM Salahuddin approved a reduction of Tk 20,000 to Tk 1,76,280 per ticket.

However, GM (Revenue) Mohammad Mizanur Rasheed later pressured the Biman corporate cash unit to claim the full amount from Takeoff Travels.

When this reporter contacted Takeoff Travels in the guise of a passenger on August 17, the day before the first flight, Ataharul Islam told Dhaka Tribune the travel agency had secured permission to sell the tickets.