Inflight Review by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Airline : Novoair
Novoair is a low-cost full-service airline. It was first established in Dhaka in October 2007 as an aviation service provider, an air cargo transportation provider and travel and tour operator. It first opened a charter air route linking Dhaka with Guangzhou using a B737 leased from China Southern Airlines and provided services on this route from 2009 to 2013 before it branched out to provide GSA services, high-end aviation technology solutions and officially entered the domestic air transportation market. Today, Novoair is not only an airline, it is also the GSA in Bangladesh for Tigerair and now Scoot Tigerair Pte Ltd. It provides ground handling support to Scoot at Dhaka's international airport.
Novoair begins domestic flights to Chittagong, Jessore and Cox's Bazar on 9 January 2013. Service to Sylhet has been ongoing since 20 January 2013, followed by flight to Saidpur. Rajshahi and Barisal joined the domestic route network in March 2016.
Novoair first launches international scheduled flight from Dhaka to Yangon on 1 December 2015 and flights to Yangon ended in early 2017. It begins flight to Kolkata from Dhaka on 1 December 2016 followed by flight to Kolkata from Chittagong on 16 December 2016.
Existing flights are operated by EMB-145EU jets and ATR 72-500 turboprop aircraft. The Novoair fleet will be entirely ATR 72-500 once Novoair's EMB145EU jets are acquired and received by National Airways Ethiopia.
Future international destinations under consideration include Bengaluru, Guwahati and Kathmandu. In the long term, it will study the possibilities of launching flights to Hong Kong and Singapore.
Novoair has a representative office in Hong Kong under the name of Asia Progress Limited and is said to open an affiliate office in Singapore soon.
Route under Review / Departure Dates : Dhaka - Chittagong - Dhaka using EMB-145EU jet. Departures on 11 March 2016 and in June 2017.
Aircraft Operation Service : ***
Flight delay of up to one hour on the Chittagong-Dhaka route. No prior notice of flight delay. However, Novoair does refund passengers if they cannot board the flights. Clean cabin. No broken arm-rest. No malfunctioning toilet.
Inflight Safety Standard : ***
Safety demonstrations onboard and safety cards exist.
Inflight Service : ***
No need to pay for refreshments and meals. Hot meals are even available on the Chittagong flight, a journey less than an hour.
Novoair handles passengers' requests and enquiries at the airports, city offices and on-line very well. Its frequent-flyer program Smiles allows member passengers to enjoy special offers, buy travel packages, be listed under priority waiting lists of passengers and enjoy check-in and boarding priority services as well as excess baggage allowance.
Ticketing : ***
Customers can use any MasterCard credit card to pay for Novoair tickets on-line. In the first trial, the Bangladesh bank payment gateway of Novoair may refuse to honour an on-line payment from Singapore and a ticketing reference is issued reminding the customer to pay. Dis-regard the ticket if the payment deadline cannot be met. Re-book until the payment is accepted. An electronic ticket is issued. For further information on Novoair ticketing, visit www.flynovoair.com.
Overall Impression : On-line ticketing on Novoair web-site may not be smooth-sailing and flights tend to be delayed but extensive marketing activities in Bangladesh and regular fleet maintenance have paid off with a higher awareness of its aviation services. Since dis-regarded as the Best Bangladesh Domestic Airline from 2015 onwards, it has plenty of room for aircraft product, flight and inflight service improvement. A three-star airline that is worth the investment support from Scoot Tigerair Pte Ltd or Singapore Airlines. Joining Value Alliance may help the airline in seeking fresh growth opportunities.
** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star
***** Very good / five-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Airline : Novoair
Novoair is a low-cost full-service airline. It was first established in Dhaka in October 2007 as an aviation service provider, an air cargo transportation provider and travel and tour operator. It first opened a charter air route linking Dhaka with Guangzhou using a B737 leased from China Southern Airlines and provided services on this route from 2009 to 2013 before it branched out to provide GSA services, high-end aviation technology solutions and officially entered the domestic air transportation market. Today, Novoair is not only an airline, it is also the GSA in Bangladesh for Tigerair and now Scoot Tigerair Pte Ltd. It provides ground handling support to Scoot at Dhaka's international airport.
Novoair begins domestic flights to Chittagong, Jessore and Cox's Bazar on 9 January 2013. Service to Sylhet has been ongoing since 20 January 2013, followed by flight to Saidpur. Rajshahi and Barisal joined the domestic route network in March 2016.
Novoair first launches international scheduled flight from Dhaka to Yangon on 1 December 2015 and flights to Yangon ended in early 2017. It begins flight to Kolkata from Dhaka on 1 December 2016 followed by flight to Kolkata from Chittagong on 16 December 2016.
Existing flights are operated by EMB-145EU jets and ATR 72-500 turboprop aircraft. The Novoair fleet will be entirely ATR 72-500 once Novoair's EMB145EU jets are acquired and received by National Airways Ethiopia.
Future international destinations under consideration include Bengaluru, Guwahati and Kathmandu. In the long term, it will study the possibilities of launching flights to Hong Kong and Singapore.
Novoair has a representative office in Hong Kong under the name of Asia Progress Limited and is said to open an affiliate office in Singapore soon.
Route under Review / Departure Dates : Dhaka - Chittagong - Dhaka using EMB-145EU jet. Departures on 11 March 2016 and in June 2017.
Aircraft Operation Service : ***
Flight delay of up to one hour on the Chittagong-Dhaka route. No prior notice of flight delay. However, Novoair does refund passengers if they cannot board the flights. Clean cabin. No broken arm-rest. No malfunctioning toilet.
Inflight Safety Standard : ***
Safety demonstrations onboard and safety cards exist.
Inflight Service : ***
No inflight magazine. No inflight entertainment. Barf bags for writing and air sickness are available.
Ground Service in response to passengers' requests and enquiries : ***
Novoair handles passengers' requests and enquiries at the airports, city offices and on-line very well. Its frequent-flyer program Smiles allows member passengers to enjoy special offers, buy travel packages, be listed under priority waiting lists of passengers and enjoy check-in and boarding priority services as well as excess baggage allowance.
Ticketing : ***
Customers can use any MasterCard credit card to pay for Novoair tickets on-line. In the first trial, the Bangladesh bank payment gateway of Novoair may refuse to honour an on-line payment from Singapore and a ticketing reference is issued reminding the customer to pay. Dis-regard the ticket if the payment deadline cannot be met. Re-book until the payment is accepted. An electronic ticket is issued. For further information on Novoair ticketing, visit www.flynovoair.com.
** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star
***** Very good / five-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)
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