UNB, Dhaka :
National flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines has received offers from three companies to supply one wide-bodied aircraft for carrying pilgrims to Saudi Arabia during the upcoming hajj.
“We’ve received three proposals and we think this is good,” a senior Biman official involved in the process told UNB over telephone.
Responding to a query, the official said Biman
decided to take the aircraft on lease for only three months and it is hard to get greater response for hiring planes just for such short period. But, the Biman official would not disclose the names of the respondents.
He said, the ‘proposal open committee’ of the state run airliner after their work will submit the proposals to the Techno Finance Sub Committee, which is also known as evaluation committee.
The evaluation committee after reviewing all the proposals and inspecting the aircraft will submit their recommendations to the Biman Board. “And the Board will take the final decision,” the Biman official said.
The national flag carrier will take the aircraft on ACMI (Aircraft, Crew,Maintenance and Insurance) on lease, which is also called wet lease, and it must fly 750 block hours.
The Biman official said the national flag carrier has decided to take the aircraft on lease as it wants to operate hajj flights smooth manner.
“We can operate the Hajj flights with our own aircraft, but for that we have to suspend some of our existing routes during the Hajj period,” he said, responding to a question on why Biman is taking aircraft on lease though it has a good number of wide-bodied aircraft in its own fleet.
Currently, Biman has four Boeing 777-300 ERs, two Boeing 777-200 ERs,two Airbus A310-300s, four Boeing 737-800s and two Dash-8 in its fleet.
National flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines has received offers from three companies to supply one wide-bodied aircraft for carrying pilgrims to Saudi Arabia during the upcoming hajj.
“We’ve received three proposals and we think this is good,” a senior Biman official involved in the process told UNB over telephone.
Responding to a query, the official said Biman
decided to take the aircraft on lease for only three months and it is hard to get greater response for hiring planes just for such short period. But, the Biman official would not disclose the names of the respondents.
He said, the ‘proposal open committee’ of the state run airliner after their work will submit the proposals to the Techno Finance Sub Committee, which is also known as evaluation committee.
The evaluation committee after reviewing all the proposals and inspecting the aircraft will submit their recommendations to the Biman Board. “And the Board will take the final decision,” the Biman official said.
The national flag carrier will take the aircraft on ACMI (Aircraft, Crew,Maintenance and Insurance) on lease, which is also called wet lease, and it must fly 750 block hours.
The Biman official said the national flag carrier has decided to take the aircraft on lease as it wants to operate hajj flights smooth manner.
“We can operate the Hajj flights with our own aircraft, but for that we have to suspend some of our existing routes during the Hajj period,” he said, responding to a question on why Biman is taking aircraft on lease though it has a good number of wide-bodied aircraft in its own fleet.
Currently, Biman has four Boeing 777-300 ERs, two Boeing 777-200 ERs,two Airbus A310-300s, four Boeing 737-800s and two Dash-8 in its fleet.
