aerobd.news : Biman Bangladesh flew a trial flight on the Dhaka-Toronto route on Saturday, March 26, marking Bangladesh’s Independence Day. The non-stop flight touched down in Toronto after 18 hours and 35 minutes in the air.

Biman Bangladesh flight BG305 took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:04 local time in Dhaka; flew westward over India, Pakistan, Iran and much of Europe before crossing the North Atlantic and then finally landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 7:38 local time on March 27.

The return flight BG306 is scheduled to leave Toronto for Dhaka at 10:00 am local time on March 29, arriving in Dhaka at 12:15 pm local time the following day after flying 16 hours and 15 minutes eastbound.

However, this one-off flight isn’t a charter, neither is a repatriation flight. This single roundtrip flight was launched on an experimental basis, marking the special occasion of Independence Day.

The flight was operated by a Boeing 787-9, with registration S2-AJY. The 2.5 years old 787 Dreamliner is configured with 30 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 247 economy class seats.

Mahbub Ali, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism inaugurated the direct commercial flight on Saturday night, according to a press release of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Representatives from the Canadian high commission in Dhaka were also present at the launch event.