Biman Bangladesh Airlines will waive its cargo handling charge for any airlines that will carry imported onion for the sake of public interest.

The civil aviation ministry today came up the decision in a meeting at the secretariat with civil aviation secretary Mohibul Haque in the chair.

“Biman charges TK 18 per kg as cargo handling services for carrying perishable imported goods by any airlines. We have decided to waive the charge in case of onion import for public interest,” Biman said in a release.

The waiving of cargo charge came into effect from today and will continue as long as onions are imported through air cargo.

The ministry will provide all-out support to the onion importers in this regard to keep the onion price stable in the market, said the release.

The government recently decided to import around 50,000 metric tons of onion by air freighter to control price hike of onion.