The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national airliner, is experiencing a setback to expand its commercial activities in off-track areas, especially in hotel business, as it went for the re-tender to construct a 4-star hotel in the city.

Biman's move to build various commercially viable structures on its own lands across the country for enhancing its revenue earnings, accommodation of layover passengers and minimizing operational costs failed to get proper response from concerned quarters, according to Biman sources.

Early this year, Biman Bangladesh authorities decided to construct a 4-star hotel in Dhaka.

In this connection, they also floated a tender in June to get expression of interest (EOI) from the investors, but it failed to attract the investors.

"We've got only two responses from our first tender to construct the 4-star hotel and both the responses were not up to the mark. That's why we went for re-tender," Biman Bangladesh Airlines director (planning) Nafees Ahmed Imtiazuddin told UNB over telephone.

The location of the hotel is in the Farmgate area where the Biman press, medical center and poultry-display center are situated. The total land area of the hotel will be 1.33 acres.

The Biman sources said that the eligibility for participating in the EOI requires that the applicants have experience of running reputed hotel chains/operators, or local/foreign firms in association/joint-venture with reputed hotel chains/operators.

The hotel may be operated under Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) or Build Operate Own and Transfer (BOOT) or Build Operate and Own (BOO) agreement, or any other such deal for that matter.

At present, on the land for the proposed hotel site, there are two old buildings housing the Biman Press, Medical Centre and Poultry Display Centre.

Considering its prime location in the central business district of the metropolitan city of Dhaka, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd. intends to implement a 4-Star Hotel Project on this piece of land, where Biman's layover passengers may be accommodated and Biman would also be able to earn maximum revenue.

With this background and objective, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd. invited applications from the eligible applicants (Reputed Hotel Chains/Operators or Local/Foreign Firms in association/joint-venture with reputed Hotel Chains/Operators) to indicate their interest to construct and operate the Hotel Project.

The construction of the 4-star hotel came in front as the Board of Directors of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited wanted to utilize such spaces at optimum level.

Biman sources said that the airline has to pay Tk 8 million to 10 million per month for accommodation of its layover passengers in different hotels.

On the other hand, another move to rent the Biman building at Motijheel also saw same problem as the move to rent different level of the building did not get the desired response.

Biman presently owns three types of aircraft-four DC10-30s, four F-28s, and three A310-300s. Manufacture of DC10-30s and F-28s has been discontinued because of their lack of viability in business.

Out of the four DC10-30s, three are 29 years old while the other is 17 years old, the four F-28s are 31 years old, and two of the A310-300s are 11 years old while the other is 7 years old.

Biman got the nod to become a public limited company in July last year.

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