Biman Bangladesh Airlines will resume its flights on Dhaka- Bangkok and Dhaka-New Delhi routes on February 15 and 16 with new generation Boeing-737 aircraft. Flights on the two routes were suspended in the middle of last year due to shortage of planes, said a Biman press release today.
Biman is set to introduce an online reservation and ticketing system to allow travellers to book seats on the internet by year-end.
The move is expected to cut dependence on travel agents, as customers will be able to buy tickets online by international credit card.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines will resume Dhaka-New York flights this March, civil aviation minister told parliament on Thursday, after their failure to take off as planned last November. The government has completed all necessary preparations, Golam Mohammed Quader said, replying to a supplementary question.
The cabinet committee on economic affairs yesterday approved a proposal of the civil aviation ministry to give sovereign guarantee to Eastern Bank Limited, a private bank, for providing pre-delivery payment (PDP) of US $ 114.75 million to procure two new 777-300 ER aircraft for Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
A syndicate of nine local banks has finalised a proposal to give Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd a loan of $114.75 million for procuring two aircraft from Boeing. This is the first time after the country's independence that local banks are giving such a big loan to a government agency in foreign currency.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines reaped Tk 34.45 crore profit in the first quarter of the fiscal year, the national carrier's managing director said on Thursday. Biman earned just Tk 24 crore in profits in the whole of 2008-09 and Tk 5.91 crore in 2007-08. Prior to 2007-08, BBA faced much criticism for its huge losses.
National flag carrier Biman will not be able to relaunch its Dhaka-New York flight this year as planned, with officials citing lack of aircraft as the reason. Civil aviation ministry officials Sunday told a parliamentary body that Biman may resume the flight sometime in January or February after getting an aircraft on lease.
A parliamentary watchdog has alleged the Biman Bangladesh Airlines management had resorted to ‘irregularities’ in the tendering process for taking lease of two aircraft for Dhaka-New York routes. The parliamentary standing committee on civil aviation ministry at its meeting on Wednesday recommended cancelling the lease agreement with the company, Euro Atlantic, if Biman failed to resume Dhaka-New York route by Oct 26.
A pilot of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines has been suspended for occupying a seat allotted to the managing director of Biman on a VVIP flight to Geneva on September 1 which was carrying the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and her entourage.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines earned a net profit of Tk 5.91 crore for the period ended June 30, 2008 since July 23, 2007, the day the national flag carrier was turned into a public limited company.
