The Bangladeshi government has seized the BDT13.7 million taka (USD130,379) remaining in the bank accounts of defunct Regent Airways (Dhaka) to partly cover BDT324,600,000 (USD3.1 million) owed in unpaid domestic passenger travel taxes.
Bangladesh's finance minister, Mustafa Kamal, confirmed the confiscation in response to a question asked in parliament on January 10, 2023. The seized money represents just 4.2% of the total amount of domestic travel taxes owed by the airline. The Bangladeshi government charges domestic airline passengers aged two years and above BDT50 (USD0.48) which is collected by airlines when the ticket is purchased. The funds raised support the activities of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).
Regent Airways suspended operations in March 2020 and despite plans to do so, has never resumed services. The airline was founded in 2010 and over the decade flew a variety of DHC-6-400s, DHC-8-300s, B737-700s, and B737-800s. In mid-2021, ch-aviation reported that Regent Airways was eyeing a return to the skies using ATR - Avions de Transport Régional turboprops but the ch-aviation PRO airlines database now categorises the carrier as out of business. Kamal did not say how he intends to collect the remaining amount owed by Regent Airways, however, two DHC-8-300s owned by the airline, S2-AHA (msn 521) and S2-AHB (msn 543), remain in storage at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
