Bangladesh, July 30 -- Bangladesh's largest private aviation company, US-Bangla Airlines, announced plans to add 21 Boeing 737-8 aircraft to its fleet as the government seeks to transform Bangladesh into a regional air-transport hub and deepen economic ties with the United States.

Advertisement This happens to be the country's most ambitious aviation-expansion programme.

The procurement-plan rollout, made at a ceremony in Dhaka on Wednesday and attended by senior government officials, Boeing executives and the US ambassador, signals growing confidence in Bangladesh's rapidly expanding aviation market, even as airlines continue to grapple with high fuel prices, infrastructure constraints and intense competition from foreign carriers.

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