The national flag carrier will resume its Dhaka-New York flight with a stoppage in Birmingham from June 4 after an eight-year suspension due to soaring fuel price and per trip loss, the Biman Bangladesh officials announced on Monday. It will also resume Dhaka-Frankfurt operation from April. ‘We are serious about Dhaka-New York operations… twice weekly flights Dhaka-Birmingham–New York are scheduled to start on June 4,’ the Biman’s chief executive officer, Kevin John Steele, told reporters at a briefing at the Biman head office.
Kevin, also the Biman’s managing director, said, ‘We are just waiting finalisation of the lease with Egyptair and the government’s approval to proceed. Our target is to catch the New York-bound Birmingham passengers,’ he said when asked whether the route will be viable.
Earlier in August 2013, Dhaka signed a fresh air-service agreement with Washington to resume Biman flights to and from New York.
He also announced the Dhaka-Rome-Frankfurt twice weekly flight would resume in April and seats would be on sale in a few weeks. Biman suspended the Dhaka-Frankfurt operation in September 2006.
‘We will also have flights to Guangzhou and Kunming in China and Guwahati in India later in the summer,’ the Biman CEO announced.
The chief executive of the national flag carrier apologised for poor punctuality of the flight over the last couple of days and defended the airlines saying it was because of technical glitch. He claimed the flight operation would be more timely when new aircraft would be available.
Six more aircraft will be joining the fleet of Biman raising a total number of aircraft to 12 by December this year.
Official sources told New Age Biman is planning to increase its fleet to 16 aircraft by 2015.
Kevin announced that all paperwork and approval for delivery of two brand new B777-300ERs were complete.
Of the two crafts, Akash Pradwip will fly directly to Dhaka from Seattle in February while another Ranga Probhat will reach in the third week of March, according to Biman officials.
From 1993 to 2006, Biman used to operate its flight on Dhaka–New York via Brussels but each of the flights had caused a financial loss of Tk 55 lakh to Biman, according the officials.
Biman currently operates flights to 18 destinations with air service agreements with 42 countries.
Asked about poor in-flight services, the CEO said they have already taken various measures to provide better services to passengers onboard.
Kevin highlighted the steps already taken to make the losing national carrier profitable. He trashed the ongoing propaganda on the process of appointment of general sales agency internationally and said he was willing to give details to the Anti-Corruption Commission as he had done previously.
Terming Biman asset-rich but a cash-poor company, Kevin announced that a new multi-storey commercial complex would be built on the site of Biman’s old building in Motijheel.
-With New Age input
