Dubai: Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the flag carrier of Bangladesh, is set to purchase 10 wide-bodied aircraft, a deal worth Dh4.4 billion ($1.2 billion), said a senior official.

The airline is also planning to offload 61 per cent of shares to the public as the government wants to improve the performance of the loss-making carrier.

"The deal includes six Airbus A330s and four Boeing 777s," M. Mahmoodur Rahman, Biman's director of marketing and sales, told Gulf News recently.

"We floated a tender earlier and received bids from both Airbus and Boeing, which have been evaluated. The deal has largely been agreed and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has given its recommendations for a combination of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. We are now waiting for the government's decision."

The aircraft manufacturers have also provided financing solutions with the bid, to be backed by Exim Bank and European credit agencies, based on Bangladesh's sovereign guarantee.

The new aircraft acquisition is critical to the future of the airline, whose growth has been challenged by the lack of adequate capacity, limiting its growth.

The decision, however, may take some time as the country has entered into an election year.

Any deal before the election could raise eyebrows among the country's opposition leaders, as aircraft purchases have been controversial in the past, especially in a country where corruption is rampant.

The airline has strong links to the Middle East, where it operates 47 weekly flights to nine destinations, serving an expatriate community of over two million, with a fleet of 14 aircraft including five DC10s and four Airbus A310s and four F28s.

The airline carried 1.52 million passengers in the last fiscal year ending June 2005, earning 20 billion takas. But it lost 2.5 billion takas as high fuel costs and maintenance of its ageing fleet took their toll on the airline. It has 5,100 employees.

"We maintained 8 per cent growth in the number of passengers and attained 17 per cent growth in revenue despite challenges and a shortage of capacity. This is above the average industry growth as projected by IATA," Rahman said.

He said the Biman management is also open to bringing in a strategic partner.