UK ban on Bangladesh air freight ends: but nothing changes

© Alexey Novikov |

It may have been much anticipated, but it turns out that the UK’s recent decision to lift the ban on cargo carried on direct flights out of Bangladesh has amounted to a hill of beans (ie, not much). According to Bangladesh’s Daily Star, the only airline with direct flights between Dhaka and London is Biman Bangladesh – except that it doesn’t have direct flights, because it is currently banned from operating in the EU due to security issues. While the airline is hopeful of a resolution to the problem soon, it means that Bangladesh’s long-suffering exporters are still paying over the odds to fly their goods out of the country. International airlines offering services to the UK – mainly the Middle Eastern carriers – must still re-screen cargo in the transit country. The paper reports that the rescreening process costs Bangladeshi exporters an additional 10-20 cents per kg, depending on the airlines, and adds eight to 12 hours to the transit time.