TBT DESK: The online-based travel agency 'Flight Expert' has suddenly shut down its office, laid off staff, and disappeared, sparking widespread outrage among travel agents and customers. According to the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB), thousands of travel agencies and individual passengers across the country have been severely affected by the incident. Several legal cases have reportedly been filed against the agency in different districts on charges of fraud.

On August 2, Flight Expert abruptly locked its office in Dhaka and terminated its employees. The agency had long been involved in selling tickets for both domestic and international airlines and providing corporate travel services.

In a letter sent to the Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, ATAB Secretary General Afsia Jannat Saleh stated that legal action must be taken under speedy trial laws against the fraudulent online travel agency and its associates for unlawfully embezzling customer funds and disappearing. She also urged relevant authorities to ensure that tickets issued by Flight Expert are neither canceled nor denied refunds. ATAB has already submitted written complaints from affected agencies to the ministry.

ATAB President Abdus Salam Aref strongly condemned Flight Expert for disappearing with the money of both travel agencies and passengers. He mentioned that ATAB had repeatedly issued warnings advising against purchasing tickets with unusually high discounts and falling into such traps. Despite these efforts, ATAB expressed sympathy for the victims and has submitted a formal request to the Secretary Civil Aviation & Tourism seeking immediate and effective action to ensure passengers tickets are not cancelled or refunded without their consent.

Additionally, ATAB has confirmed that the Global Distribution System (GDS) access of Flight Expert has been blocked to prevent further misuse. The organization has called on the government to issue immediate order for passenger's protection in this regard.