Dhaka, July 12 -- The air ticket market in Bangladesh appears to have fallen back into the grip of syndicates, as ticket prices on popular Middle East-bound routes surge once more, raising serious concerns among travellers, travel agencies and industry stakeholders, alleges the Association of Travel Agent of Bangladesh (ATAB).

During December, January and February, one-way tickets from Dhaka to Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah and Dammam were being sold under the guise of 'group bookings' at nearly Tk 1 lakh, while the official system prices ranged from Tk 1.7 to Tk 1.8 lakh, ATAB said in a media release on Saturday.

In an attempt to curb these abnormal prices and restore order, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism issued a circular on Feb...