Dhaka : US-Bangla Airlines has become the first domestic private carrier to be recognised as an Interna-tional Air Transport Associa-tion (IATA) Member Airline.

By 2023, 18 airlines in the world have achieved accreditation as IATA Airlines, of which US-Bangla is one.

Although several private airlines in Bangladesh have been operating in the last 27 years, it is the first time a private local carrier has achieved this honour.

With this, US-Bangla will be able to play a participatory role in world of air transport, said a release.

Recently, US-Bangla Airlines also acquired the IOSA certificate.

The airline commenced its journey on July 17, 2014 and is currently operating domestic flights from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar, Chattogram, Sylhet, Saidpur, Jashore, Rajshahi and Barishal.

Besides, US-Bangla Airlines is operating flights to 11 international such as Kolkata, Chennai, Male, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Guangzhou, Sharjah, Dubai, Doha and Muscat.

Furthermore, US-Bangla Airlines plans to operate flights to Jeddah and Delhi soon.

The airline's fleet currently has a total of 20 aircraft including eight Boeing 737-800s and nine ATR 72-600s.

US-Bangla is also planning to add two 436-seat Airbus 330 and four ATR 72-600 aircraft to its fleet shortly.