The national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh is likely buying aircraft made by European giant Airbus for its fleet, said the airline’s managing director.
“Airbus sent a proposal for the sale of four aircraft. The proposal goes from the evaluation committee to the airline's board of directors. The council referred it to the negotiation committee with instructions to proceed in this regard,” said outgoing Biman Bangladesh Managing Director Shafiul Azim at a press briefing on Wednesday (29 May).
“However, earlier they had offered to sell two cargo aircraft. But we feel we don't need cargo planes for now. Then informed about our desire to increase the fleet of passenger aircraft. The offer for the sale of the four-passenger aircraft sent later was better than the previous offer,” he added.
“We are now giving importance to the preparations of Airbus. Because all the major aircraft in our fleet are Boeing. That's why passengers will also like to have some variety and new aircraft. Moreover, any company's aircraft may perform poorly at some point, so we are thinking of diversification,” the Biman MD said.
Regarding Boeing's proposal, he said, "We will evaluate Boeing's proposal. Biman has long had a good relationship with Boeing. However, whichever aircraft Biman buys, we are in an advantageous position as a buyer with competitive offers from the two companies.”
In a notification of the Public Administration Ministry on 21 May, Shafiul Azim was promoted to the post of Secretary and ordered to be given the post of secretary of the Election Commission.
Meanwhile, in another announcement on 26 May, the Ministry of Public Administration appointed Zahidul Islam Bhuyan as the new managing director and chief executive of Biman.
To meet the expanding demand for air travel in the coming years, national flag carrier Bangladesh Airlines is in the process of procuring new aircraft. The company, which has a fleet of US-made Boing airplanes, has held multiple meetings with Europe’s Airbus about buying new aircraft from them.
Meanwhile, Boeing has offered to sell four 787 Dreamliners and two 777 Freighters (wide-body freighters) to Biman.
The national flag airlines currently have 12 Boeing aircraft. These aircraft were purchased at a cost of around Tk19,000 crores.
