Biman Bangladesh Airlines

Biman Bangladesh Airlines was established on 4 January 1972 as Bangladesh's national airline under the Bangladesh Biman Ordinance (Presidential Order No. 126). The initiative to launch the flag carrier was taken by 2,500 former employees, including ten Boeing 707 commanders and seven other former pilots of Pakistan International Airlines, who submitted a proposal to the government on 31 December 1971 following the independence of Bangladesh. The short haul fleet was supplemented by a Fokker F27 from India on 3 March 1972; the aircraft was employed on a daily scheduled flight between Calcutta and Dhaka on 28 April 1972. Three additional Fokker F27s were acquired during March and September of that year. In the first year of operation, Biman operated 1,079 flights carrying just over 380,000 passengers. on short final to London Heathrow Airport in 1981. Four Fokker F27s joined the fleet in 1973, enabling Biman to double the frequency of the Kolkata flight to a twice daily service. A Boeing 707 was added to the fleet in September and the flight to London became twice-weekly, while a Chittagong–Kolkata flight also began operating. In 1974, operations were extended to Kathmandu (February), Bangkok (November) and Dubai (December). In 1976, Biman sold two of its Fokker F27s and bought another Boeing 707 to extend international services to Abu Dhabi, Karachi and Mumbai. Singapore was added to Biman's list of international destinations, when a third Boeing 707 was purchased in February 1977, followed by Jeddah, Doha and Amsterdam the following year, which also saw the purchase of its fourth Boeing 707. In 1977, Biman was converted into a public sector corporation to be governed by a board of directors appointed by the government. The airline broke even for the first time in 1977–78, and made a profit the following year. International destinations expanded to include Kuala Lumpur, Athens, Muscat and Tripoli in 1979, followed by Yangon, Tokyo and Dhahran in 1980. Biman took delivery of its first 85-seater Fokker F28-4000 in 1981. In 1983, three Douglas DC-10s joined the fleet and the airline started to phase out the Boeing 707s. The flight network expanded further to include Baghdad (1983), Paris (1984) and Bahrain (1986). On 5 August 1984, Biman faced its worst accident ever when a Fokker F27 flying in from Chittagong crashed near Dhaka, killing all 49 on board. The long haul fleet was then supplemented by the purchase of two new Airbus A310s in 1996, followed by the addition of two more in 2000, from Singapore Airlines and Air Jamaica, and another in 2003. ==Corporate affairs==

Key people Retired Senior Secretary Mostafa Kamal Uddin replaced former Senior Secretary Sajjadul Hassan, who had completed his term, as the chairman of the airline in January 2023. Additional secretary to the government Shafiul Azim is the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD). Previously, Kevin John Steele, and Biman was transformed into a public limited company, the largest in Bangladesh, in 2007. Research conducted in 1996 found that Biman had 5,253 non-flying personnel, 30 percent more than Singapore Airlines, a carrier who operated a fleet almost ten times the size of Biman's. The report described Biman as "poorly managed, overstaffed, under-capitalized, and subject to excessive political interference in its day-to-day management." 1990s In the 1992–93 fiscal year, accounts under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism revealed that BDT 22 million in tax was not paid to the government. The audit carried out in 1999, also showed that Biman was owed BDT 2.2 million by travel agents from the proceeds of ticket sales, most likely with the collusion of Biman officials. Additionally, BDT 2.4 million was overpaid as incentive commissions to the sales agents in violation of Biman policies. In 2007, the caretaker government launched an anti-corruption drive. This was shortly followed by the forced retirement of 35 other employees and officials, some of whom were close aides of Shamim Iskander. the government offered 40 percent of Biman to foreign airlines in 2004, hoping a buyer would take over the management of the carrier. However, the proposal demanded that many decision-making rights remain within the Bangladesh government, and the offer was ignored by outside airlines. A similar initiative in 1998 cost Biman $1.6 million in consultancy fees with no positive results. 2000s In the 2005–06 fiscal year, Biman carried 1.15 million passengers, a growth of 70% over the previous decade. With the rise of private domestic carriers in Bangladesh, however, Biman's market share for domestic passengers dropped by 35% over the previous ten years' average, with only 162,000 passengers travelling with Biman in the domestic sector in the 2005–06 fiscal year. During the same period, Biman reported its biggest annual loss of over US$120 million (BDT 8.3 billion as of 2010), with a US$100 million (BDT 6.9 billion as of 2010) loss reported the following year. Biman also fell behind on millions of dollars in payments to its fuel supplier, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), with debts that rose to BDT 15.64 billion in late December 2006. As a part of the restructuring, the government put in place a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to reduce the man-equipment ratio (MER) of 367:1 (ratio of manpower to aircraft). and 1877 applications, The government is the sole shareholder of the 1.5 billion shares, but intends to offer 49 percent to the private sector while retaining majority ownership. The previous managing director, Dr. Abdul Momen, was appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director of the new organisation. The six directors were appointed from the ministries of energy, commerce, finance, civil aviation, foreign affairs, and the cabinet division, with the cabinet secretary taking on the role as chairman of the board of directors. The six secretaries and a joint secretary to the civil aviation ministry were made the seven shareholders of the new PLC. They were joined by previous managing directors of Biman, along with the former president of the Bangladesh Airline Pilots' Association. and BDT 8.50 billion to Padma Oil Company, its fuel supplier. There are five wholly owned subsidiaries, including: Since 1972, BGH provides ground-handling services for all airports in Bangladesh; the company reported a profit of BDT 4.5 billion for the FY 2011–12. The wholly owned subsidiary BFCC was set up in 1989 to provide in-flight meals. It is one of Biman's profitable operations, supplying food to Saudia, Etihad, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways, Emirates, China Southern Airlines and Regent Airways, along with casual orders from other airlines operating into Bangladesh. The BFCC consumes 90% of the eggs and chickens from the BPC, another profit-making subsidiary of Biman formed in 1976 and put into operation in November 1980 to rear poultry at farms in Dhaka. Bird flu was detected at one of the farms in March 2007, and many of the birds were culled. This was the first incident of bird flu in Bangladesh. ==Services==

In 2013, Biman signed agreements with SITA In collaboration with a third-party service provider, Biman allows passengers to request Business Class upgrades as well as adjacent extra seats after booking an economy class fare. Flight classes cabin of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Boeing 777-300ER en route to Dhaka from Jeddah. A two-class service (J and Y) is operated on most of Biman's aircraft. The Business Class cabin on its Boeing 777 is arranged in a 2–3–2 configuration, while economy class cabin is set up in a 3–3–3 configuration. Biman has two types of Business Class layout in its Boeing 787. The 787-8 variant has its Business Class cabin arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration. On the other hand, the Business Class cabin on the 787-9 variant is set up in a more comfortable 1-2-1 configuration. All 787s' have their Economy class cabin arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration. Also, the 787-9s' on its fleet are the first to introduce a Premium Economy class into Biman's service. The narrow-body Boeing 737-800s' Business Class is set up in a 2–2 configuration while Economy Class is in a 3–3 arrangement. Business Class passengers of Biman Bangladesh Airlines have exclusive access to airport and hotel lounges around the globe. In-flight amenities Biman relaunched its inflight magazine and re-branded as Bihanga in September 2013. The bi-monthly magazine, previously known as Diganta, and before that Jatri, is published by Subcontinental Media Group. The magazine is available in both Bengali and English, covering topics about Bangladesh and Biman's destinations. Duty-free products include perfumes, cosmetics, jewellery, watches, children's gifts, chocolates, tobacco, etc. In 2014, Biman launched amenity kits for children on-board which include colouring books, stationery, dolls and jigsaw puzzle. The newer Boeing 777s and 787s are equipped with modern in-flight entertainment systems. Every seat is fitted with personal touch screen displays which are loaded with movies, songs and games. It also has high-resolution moving maps and live flight information. All this is available in two languages – English and Bengali. Starting with the newly delivered Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Biman Bangladesh Airlines launched onboard Internet, WiFi, mobile telephony, movie streaming and live TV streaming services in September 2018 in most of the new planes in its fleet. All meals served on-board Biman flights are Halal and in Business Class, à la carte menus are offered. Frequent-flyer program Biman launched a frequent-flyer program, named Biman Loyalty Club, in November 2013. It offers rewards such as tiered benefits, mileage bonuses, extra baggage, lounge access and priority check-in at airports. Ticketing An agreement was signed with Amadeus in 2007 to upgrade Biman's ticketing system with an e-ticketing solution to comply with IATA rules, which set out a deadline of 31 December 2007 for all member airlines to switch over their ticketing systems. E-ticketing allowed Biman to reduce costs while eliminating the stress of lost tickets for passengers. In 2005, Biman had briefly stopped using the Amadeus ticketing system when the government suspended the operation of a local Amadeus subsidiary following a court order, after allegations of money laundering. The suspension, however, lasted only a month, and was lifted after the writ was appealed in the High Court. It has established a Cargo Village at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka where the cargo is packaged and labelled before being loaded onto its aircraft for shipment overseas. The air cargo industry in Bangladesh grew by 16.5% in the fiscal year 2003–04. Private operators increased their share of the cargo market by 10.6% and were responsible for handling 24% of the total 99,000 tonnes of cargo at the expense of both Biman and foreign airlines which saw a reduction in their shares by 4.6% and 6.0% respectively. Foreign airlines handled 47% of the total cargo with Biman taking on the remaining 29% in the fiscal year 2003–04. In March 2018, Biman Bangladesh Airlines received ACC3 and RA-3 (Regulatory Agent for third country) certifications from the European Union allowing direct cargo flights to all destinations in Europe. ACC3 stands for Air Cargo or Mail Carrier operating into Europe from a third-country airport. These certifications were successfully obtained after the government of Bangladesh upgraded Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) and improved its security, including setting up Explosive Detection Systems (EDS), Explosive Detection Dogs (EDD) and Explosive Trace Detection (EDT) machines. Due to the improved security standards, Biman Cargo Village and Dhaka Airport (HSIA) also got the ACC3 and RA-3 certifications simultaneously and an RA-3-compliant warehouse was built at HSIA for Europe-bound cargo freight where entry is restricted for everyone apart from accredited Biman staff. Biman Bangladesh Mobile App On 28 December 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched the Biman Bangladesh Airlines Mobile App. She also laid the foundation stone of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and inaugurated the Sonar Tari and Achin Pakhi, which are two new purchases of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft to the flag carrier. The app was made available for passengers around the world. ==Destinations==

Biman serves 30 destinations with 48 routes. Route map From 1993 to 2006, Biman operated flights to New York City from Dhaka, catering to the many Bangladeshis who lived and studied in the United States. New York was Biman's farthest and most prestigious destination, and was kept operational, despite heavy financial losses towards the end, to maintain a landing slot in the US which, if cancelled, could be difficult to regain. It subsequently routed the flight from Dhaka to New York through Dubai and Brussels and the inbound one through Brussels. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had placed the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) into Category 2 (does not meet International Civil Aviation Organization standards) according to its International Aviation Safety Assessment Program, which placed additional restrictions on the country's airlines when flying to the US. For Biman, this meant it could continue flying to the US, but could not expand or alter its routes. The FAA fined Biman for breaching its rules, and flights to New York began stopping in Brussels again. The FAA already warned Biman to replace its ageing DC-10s by December 2005. According to experts, these aircraft were inadequately equipped to cross the Atlantic safely. On 13 May 2006, the FAA refused permission for the flight to enter its airspace, citing safety concerns over the DC-10. Canadian authorities inspected the aircraft and gave it a clean bill of health after which the aircraft returned to Dhaka without any passengers. The FAA eventually admitted it was mistaken and apologised for the error. which had been losing per flight, London On 4 March 1972, Biman started its first international operations with a weekly flight to London using a Boeing 707. , Biman Bangladesh Airlines flies directly to London Heathrow, from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, four times a week transporting both passengers and cargo, using its newly purchased Boeing 777 aircraft. Under its new management, the airline has seen a marked improvement in punctuality as well as in on-time flight performance in recent times. Following discussions with BAA, however, Biman obtained landing slots for the summer of 2008 on condition that it achieved 80% usage. Delays continued unabated and in September 2008, Biman's Dhaka–London direct flight utilising a DC-10 aircraft was diverted and landed at Gatwick when it did not have sufficient fuel to remain in a holding pattern over Heathrow following arrival over three hours after the scheduled time. On 26 March 2022, on the occasion of 51st Independence Day of Bangladesh and to observe the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Biman operated a special flight, BG-305, from Dhaka and Toronto–Pearson. In April 2022, initially the inaugural commercial flight was scheduled on 11 June 2022, however, Biman decided not to operate a direct flight to Toronto as it would not be commercially viable, rather planned to operate the flight with a stopover in any of the European or Asian destinations for refueling and extra passengers. On 22 April, Biman confirmed that it would use Manchester Airport as a stopover for its Toronto flight, to make it more commercially viable. However, later in May, Biman decided that Istanbul Airport will be used for refueling purposes, making it a technical halt only, not being allowed to aboard or deboard passengers from the airport. On 27 July, the first flight left Dhaka at 03:30 with 160 passengers only. Hajj flights The annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca for the Hajj is undertaken by thousands of Bangladesh's predominantly Muslim population. Biman has been the sole Bangladeshi airline permitted by the government to provide flights for pilgrims to King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah. Every year, the commencement of these flights is inaugurated by high-ranking government officials, including, at times, the Prime Minister. In 2006, Biman took the unprecedented step of removing the business–class seats from its dedicated Hajj flights to accommodate more economy-class passengers. Procedural irregularities by the Hajj agencies delayed the confirmation of pilgrims' visas, and Biman had to cancel 19 flights owing to lack of sufficient passengers. Once the situation was resolved, Biman was then unable to offer the required number of flights to cope with the backlog of passengers. In June 2007, the caretaker government approved a three-year Hajj policy aiming to alleviate the problems encountered during the previous two years. Hajj flights would also begin leaving from Bangladesh's two other international airports, Shah Amanat International Airport and Osmani International Airport. In 2008, Biman wet-leased a 542-seater Boeing 747-200 from Kabo Air of Nigeria for six months to operate flights to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Codeshare agreements , Biman Bangladesh Airlines had codeshare agreements with the following airlines: • Gulf Air Interline agreements • Air Canada • APG Airlines • Emirates • Hahn Air • Kuwait Airways • My Freighter Airlines • Pakistan International Airlines ==Fleet==

Current fleet of Biman. departing Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. at Farnborough Airshow. landing at London Heathrow in 2020. , the Biman Bangladesh Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft: Fleet history 1972–2000 A vintage Douglas Dakota and Douglas DC-3 were the first aircraft in Biman's fleet. McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and Airbus A310-300s made up most of Biman's international fleet, before the delivery of the modern Boeing 777-300ERs started in 2011. Fokker F28s made up the remainder of the fleet for the domestic and regional sectors, before they were retired in 2012. Biman's fleet contains the second-to-last Douglas DC–10 to come off the production line (l/n 445), and only three other Airbus A310–300s were produced following Biman's purchase of two new Airbus A310s in 1996. The two Fokker F28–4000s were acquired from PBair in 2004 at a cost of $2.91 million. Both of these aircraft were built in 1977, making Biman's latest acquisitions the oldest aircraft in its fleet. The ageing fleet made it difficult for Biman to maintain its flight schedule, as the aircraft suffered from mechanical problems, leading to flight delays and cancellations. A number of aircraft remained grounded owing to lack of spare parts as they are no longer manufactured and used parts are difficult to source. 2000s In 2000, Biman put out a request for proposal for the acquisition of four wide-bodied aircraft to replace the DC–10s, but both the fleet renewal plans and the airline's expected privatisation were shelved by the government. A further attempt was made in 2005 to acquire new aircraft and plans were submitted for the purchase of ten new wide-bodied Airbus and Boeing aircraft at a total cost of $1 billion. Boeing arranged to finance the purchase provided a guarantee was given by the Bangladesh government. After bureaucratic delays and a perceived lack of commitment from the government, Boeing lost interest and the plans were cancelled. The sole response to the tender came from Star Aviation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). After Biman became a public limited company, renewed attempts were made to procure new-generation aircraft to replace its ageing fleet. In November 2007, Boeing made an offer to supply Biman with four Boeing 777-200s (with options for two more) to be delivered by 2013 and four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners (with options for two more) to be delivered by 2017 and provide similar aircraft on lease for the interim period beginning in 2009. The average price of these aircraft was quoted as  million. Airbus also made an offer to supply four Airbus A320 or Airbus A330 series aircraft at a much lower price than that of Boeing. To manage the fleet in the short run, Biman again floated a tender in January 2008 to purchase or dry lease with options to purchase two used Airbus A310-300 aircraft. with Biman making an initial instalment of  million. following the government approving a  million loan, of which  million will be provided by the Ex-Im Bank and the rest by the Standard Chartered Bank. The aircraft was then offered for sale as scrap in Dhaka. The Airbus A310-300s were withdrawn from service in October 2016. With newly leased Dash 8-Q400 aircraft, the carrier resumed domestic flights in full swing to Cox's Bazar, Jessore, Saidpur, Rajshahi and Barisal in April 2015. The two aircraft, dry leased from Smart Aviation Company for a period of five years, also operated on regional flights to Kolkata and Yangon. Initially it was supposed to resume in November 2013, which Biman failed to as it was unable to find a lessor of aircraft. In February 2017, it was announced that the airline would acquire three of their own Dash 8-Q400 which will be used to replace the current aircraft leased from Smart Aviation Company to continue operating domestic and regional flights. Due to reliability issues with its Boeing 777-200ER aircraft leased from EgyptAir, Biman announced in December 2017 that the aircraft would be returned in March and May 2018, one year ahead of the expiration of the lease. On 19 August 2018, Biman received its first of four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners and it was named "Akash Beena" in Bengali by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who inaugurated it on 5 September 2018 during an inauguration ceremony before its maiden commercial flight. The Dreamliner has this name inscribed on its side, below the cockpit, written in English on the port side and in Bengali on starboard. On 1 December 2018, the second of four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners was received, increasing the fleet of Biman to fifteen aircraft, and it was named "Hangsa Balaka" in Bengali with BG-2112 as its serial number. The last Boeing 787-8 named "Raj Hangsha" joined the fleet on 14 September 2019. After receiving all four Boeing 787-8, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina showed interest to buy two more Boeing 787-9. Besides, discussion is going on for taking four more Boeing 787-9 that was not taken up by Hainan Airlines and later on passed by Vistara. Besides, the airlines intended to buy cargo aircraft in future. In 2023 French President Emmanuel Macron, together with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced an agreement to purchase ten Airbus A350 aircraft for Biman Bangladesh Airlines during President Macron's visit to Dhaka. The Airbus agreement consists of two A350F cargo aircraft and eight A350 passenger aircraft., to purchase 14 aircraft at an estimated value of 3.7 billion US Dollars. Of the 14 aircraft, 8 would be Boeing 787-10's, 2 Boeing 787-9's and 4 Boeing 737-8 Max. As per the deal, delivery will start in 2031, with all the planes arriving by 2035. The initial livery was a dark blue line extending across the aircraft along the windows and covering the tail section. This was replaced in the 1980s by dark green and red lines, matching the colours of the Bangladesh flag, and has remained so for over two decades. In 2010, Biman went through a rebranding exercise and unveiled a new logo and livery, designed by Teague, which was applied to its leased Boeing 777 and 737 aircraft. Retired fleet The carrier also formerly operated the following aircraft: • Airbus A310-300 • BAe ATP • Boeing 707-120B • Boeing 707-320 • Boeing 707-320B • Boeing 707-320C • Boeing 737-300 • Boeing 747-200B • Boeing 747-300 • Boeing 747-300SCD • Boeing 747-400 • Boeing 777-200 • Boeing 777-200ER • Douglas DC-6B • Douglas DC-8-40 • Douglas DC-8-50 • Fokker F27-200 • Fokker F27-600 • Fokker F28-4000 • McDonnell Douglas DC-10-15 • McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 • McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30ER • McDonnell Douglas MD-80 ==Accidents and incidents==

, Aviation Safety Network records 12 accidents/incidents for Biman Bangladesh Airlines, with two of them leading to fatalities. ==See also==