Portal:Bangladesh/Selected article archive/December 2007

Note: This is a duplicate of /Selected article/6

Biman Bangladesh Airlines, commonly known as Biman (/biːmɑːn/ bee-mah-n, Bengali: [ˈbimaːn]), is the national flag carrier of Bangladesh. With its main hub at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, the airline also operates flights from its secondary hubs at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong and as well as Osmani International Airport in Sylhet. The airline provides international passenger and cargo services to multiple destinations and has air service agreements in 42 countries. The headquarters of the airline, Balaka Bhaban, is located in Kurmitola, in the northern part of Dhaka. Annual Hajj flights, transporting tourists, migrants, and non-resident Bangladeshi workers and the activities of its subsidiaries form an integral part of the corporate business of the airline. Bangladesh's air transport sector, which is experiencing an 8% annual growth rate thanks to a large number of outbound tourists, domestic tourists, and non-resident Bangladeshi travellers, is very competitive with stiff competition among some private Bangladeshi airlines as well as Biman.

Created in February 1972, Biman enjoyed an internal monopoly in the aviation industry of Bangladesh for 24 years, until 1996. In the decades following its founding, the airline expanded its fleet and destinations but it was adversely affected by corruption and mismanagement. At its peak, Biman operated flights to 29 international destinations, extending from New York City in the west to Tokyo in the east. The airline was wholly owned and managed by the government of Bangladesh until 23 July 2007, when it was transformed into the country's largest public limited company by the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh. Since becoming a public limited company in 2007, the airline has reduced staff and begun to modernize its fleet. The airline had signed a deal with Boeing to buy ten new aircraft and options for ten more in 2008. After taking delivery of the new planes, Biman expanded its destinations and increased in-flight amenities, especially onboard Internet, WiFi, mobile telephony and live TV streams.

During his visit to Dhaka in September 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the order of ten Airbus A350 aircraft for Biman. The Airbus order consists of the purchase by Biman Bangladesh Airlines of two A350F cargo aircraft and eight A350 passenger aircraft. The aircraft will be delivered in stages with two passenger A350 aircraft joining the Biman fleet first. Biman Bangladesh Airlines is certified as safe to fly in Europe by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. In addition, Biman has also successfully passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit and since then, the airline has resumed flights to some of its previous destinations in Asia and Europe. In recent times, Biman Bangladesh Airlines has seen a marked improvement in punctuality, as well as in on-time flight performance, under its new management team. (Full article...) (more...)