Business | Aviation
Boeing team plans Dhaka trip to finalise Biman deal
Biman, Bangladesh's struggling national carrier which is recovering from near bankruptcy, will sign firm orders for eight Boeing aircraft, including four B777-300ERs and four B787-9 Dreamliners, valued at $1.65 billion on list price, next week, a top official said.
- By Saifur Rahman, Business Editor
- Published: 00:05 April 7, 2008
Dubai: Biman, Bangladesh's struggling national carrier which is recovering from near bankruptcy, will sign firm orders for eight Boeing aircraft, including four B777-300ERs and four B787-9 Dreamliners, valued at $1.65 billion on list price, next week, a top official said.
These aircraft will be delivered between 2013 and 2017, but the airline is in need of an immediate fleet replacement programme to operate on the essential routes.
"A Boeing team is due in Dhaka on April 15 when we are going to finalise the deal, and also going to discuss the possibility of leasing two Boeing 777-300ERs," M. Abdul Momen, managing director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, told Gulf News last week.
Interim solution
Boeing has agreed to assist Biman's search for an acceptable interim solution with four 777-200ER/787-8 on lease which will join the Biman fleet by 2009 onwards. Boeing has also agreed to provide full logistic support for accommodation of new generation aircraft as well as to execute the replacement of Biman's old fleet.
Biman will completely replace its DC-10-30s with 777-300ERs and its A310 with 787-8s in 2009 onwards with the lease of new generation aircraft.
Biman, which has suffered losses since its inception in 1972 with the leftover assets of Pakistan International Airlines shortly after independence in December 1971, is expected to break even by the end of the year following cost-cutting measures including the laying off of more than half of its 6,838 employees and reducing services from 26 destinations to 18.
"We still have a liability of 11.94 billion taka. The Bangladesh government has agreed to absorb 5.73 billion taka which will be turned into equity before we float the company on the stock market later this year," Abdul Momen said.
Biman's revenue more than doubled to 4.5 billion taka last year from the previous year's 2.72 billion. "This year, we have a positive cash balance and might become profitable by the end of the year," he said.
He added that Biman will continue to serve the Middle East, which is a profitable sector. More than half of the 5 million overseas Bangladeshis live in the six Gulf states, and prefer Biman over other airlines. However, due to its own crises, the airline had difficulty maintaining schedules.
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