The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Biman Bangladesh Airlines signed a deal with Orient Thai to take a Boeing 747-300 aircraft under ACMI leasing system, as the national flag carrier is trying to stay afloat in the growing competition.

Biman officials discussed overall ingredients of the deal in meetings on Saturday and Sunday, and then signed the deal.

Acting managing director of Biman Tahir Hossain and executive director of Orient Thai Cho Tsnag signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

"The aircraft will arrive in Bangladesh on June 20 and we expect that it'll fly as our fleet aircraft within 3-4 days of its arrival," Biman General Manager (Planning) Md Belayet Hossain told UNB.

Sources said Biman will have to pay US$ 5,395 for per block hour for the Boeing 747-300 aircraft having 512 seats.

Earlier, a four-member technical team had gone to Bangkok to see the plane of the Thai aviation firm that won the bid for leasing it out to Biman. The team comprised three Biman officials and one Civil Aviation Authority official.

In a marathon meeting on April 20, the board of directors of Biman had decided to take on lease an aircraft from the Orient that quoted the lowest price. Another decision was taken to put Osborne Aeronautical Services on the second option for getting a Boeing 747 under ACMI lease system.

"After the overall report of the team, we've started negotiations with Orient Thai to sign an agreement," the Biman General Manager said.

He is hopeful of getting the aircraft on lease and adding to the existing fleet next month (June). The 512-capacity Boeing 747 will be incorporated under Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) lease process for one year.

This latest aircraft will be used to operate Biman's flights to Gulf and Middle-Eastern countries.

A tender was floated on March 10 seeking an aircraft manufactured not before 1980. Five international companies had responded to it.

Biman has recently taken on lease a 542-seat Boeing 747-200 from a Nigeria-based airline, Kabo Air, in a bid to minimize disruptions in its flight schedules.

The national flag carrier has long been facing serious problems in maintaining its flight schedules with barely 11 aircraft in its emaciated fleet-four DC10s-30s, four F28s and three A310-300s.

Of them, only four or five can fly everyday, while the rest were grounded due to technical glitches.

Biman has signed a long-range deal for the purchase of eight Boeing aircraft at a cost of US$ 1.265 billion. Four of those will be available in 2013 and four others in 2019.