UNB, Dhaka :
Ten international airlines have responded well to Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ tender seeking aircraft to smoothly carry hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia this year.
“We’ve got proposals from 10 airlines,” an official at the national flag carrier told UNB.
The respondents are Avico Asia Pacific, Trans Chartered, Omni Air, Kabo Air, Air Asia, Eagle Express, Aero Group, Megha Malaysia, Worldwide Chartered and Trans Aero.
Earlier, Biman had decided to add two wide-bodied aircraft to its fleet to carry hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh although it did not add any aircraft to its fleet during hajj flight operation last year saying that the airliner was capable of carrying pilgrims with its own aircraft.
The Biman official, who is involved in the planning of the airlines, said that an evaluation committee is examining the tender papers of the respondents.
“They’ll prepare a report on it and then will submit it to us,” he said.
The official also mentioned that the evaluation committee would need another two weeks to complete their job and find out the suitable bidder. “We’ll be able to reach a decision by the end of this month,” he hoped.
Biman recently floated the tender in this regard seeking that the aircraft must be manufactured on October 1, 1995 or later.
The aircraft will be taken from early August next on ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) basis which is popularly known as wet lease.
According to the tender document, the aircraft must have minimum 300 seats in two class configuration and must be capable of flying directly between Dhaka and Jeddah without any load penalty taking into consideration of passenger weight and baggage 120 kilogram.
Some 1,01,758 Bangladeshis will perform hajj this year. Of them, 10,000 will perform hajj under the government arrangement, while 91,758 under the private arrangement.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines will carry half of the hajj passengers, while Saudi Airlines the remaining ones.
The number of hajj pilgrims is less in the current year than the previous year as Saudi government has reduced the quota for hajj pilgrims by 20 percent due to massive renovation works at the Haram Sharif.
Hajj flights to carry Bangladeshi pilgrims to Saudi Arabia will begin on August 16 and continue till September 18 this year. The return hajj flights will begin on September 27 and continue till October 28.
Responding a query how Biman managed to carry pilgrims without taking any new aircraft last year, the official involved in planning said that last time Biman closed a couple of its routes during the hajj period.
“Now Biman is not in a position to suspend its other routes…we’ve to keep up our own market,” he said adding that Biman’s position is now much better than it was a couple of years back.
Ten international airlines have responded well to Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ tender seeking aircraft to smoothly carry hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia this year.
“We’ve got proposals from 10 airlines,” an official at the national flag carrier told UNB.
The respondents are Avico Asia Pacific, Trans Chartered, Omni Air, Kabo Air, Air Asia, Eagle Express, Aero Group, Megha Malaysia, Worldwide Chartered and Trans Aero.
Earlier, Biman had decided to add two wide-bodied aircraft to its fleet to carry hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh although it did not add any aircraft to its fleet during hajj flight operation last year saying that the airliner was capable of carrying pilgrims with its own aircraft.
The Biman official, who is involved in the planning of the airlines, said that an evaluation committee is examining the tender papers of the respondents.
“They’ll prepare a report on it and then will submit it to us,” he said.
The official also mentioned that the evaluation committee would need another two weeks to complete their job and find out the suitable bidder. “We’ll be able to reach a decision by the end of this month,” he hoped.
Biman recently floated the tender in this regard seeking that the aircraft must be manufactured on October 1, 1995 or later.
The aircraft will be taken from early August next on ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) basis which is popularly known as wet lease.
According to the tender document, the aircraft must have minimum 300 seats in two class configuration and must be capable of flying directly between Dhaka and Jeddah without any load penalty taking into consideration of passenger weight and baggage 120 kilogram.
Some 1,01,758 Bangladeshis will perform hajj this year. Of them, 10,000 will perform hajj under the government arrangement, while 91,758 under the private arrangement.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines will carry half of the hajj passengers, while Saudi Airlines the remaining ones.
The number of hajj pilgrims is less in the current year than the previous year as Saudi government has reduced the quota for hajj pilgrims by 20 percent due to massive renovation works at the Haram Sharif.
Hajj flights to carry Bangladeshi pilgrims to Saudi Arabia will begin on August 16 and continue till September 18 this year. The return hajj flights will begin on September 27 and continue till October 28.
Responding a query how Biman managed to carry pilgrims without taking any new aircraft last year, the official involved in planning said that last time Biman closed a couple of its routes during the hajj period.
“Now Biman is not in a position to suspend its other routes…we’ve to keep up our own market,” he said adding that Biman’s position is now much better than it was a couple of years back.
