is the flag carrier of Bangladesh. In the decades following its founding, the airline expanded its fleet and destinations but it was adversely affected by corruption and mismanagement. At its peak, Biman operated flights to 29 international destinations, extending from New York City in the west to Tokyo in the east. The airline was wholly owned and managed by the government of Bangladesh until 23 July 2007, when it was transformed into the country's largest public limited company by the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh. Since becoming a public limited company in 2007, the airline has reduced staff and begun to modernize its fleet. The airline had signed a deal with Boeing to buy ten new aircraft and options for ten more in 2008. 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. 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:
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:1em auto;"
|-
!Company
!Main activity
!Founded
|-
|Biman Ground Handling (BGH)
|Aircraft ground handling
|1972
|-
|Biman Engineering
|Aviation engineering
|2004
|-
|Bangladesh Airlines Training Centre (BATC)
|Aviation training
|1972
|-
|Biman Flight Catering Centre (BFCC)
|Flight catering
|1989
|-
|Biman Poultry Complex (BPC)
|Poultry farming complex
|1980
|}
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. 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
thumb|right|Interior of [[business class 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
alt=Biman Loyalty Club logo|thumb|Biman Loyalty Club, the frequent flyer program of the airline.
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
alt=|thumb|Biman flies internationally to: Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Dammam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Guangzhou, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Manchester, Medina, Muscat, Toronto, Riyadh, Sharjah, Singapore and New York.
thumb|Biman currently serves 8 domestic destinations, including its main hub in Dhaka.
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.
Interline agreements
- Air Canada
- APG Airlines
- Emirates
- Hahn Air
- Kuwait Airways
- My Freighter Airlines
- Pakistan International Airlines
Fleet
Current fleet
thumb|[[Boeing 737-800 of Biman.]]
alt=|thumb|Biman Bangladesh Airlines [[Boeing 777-300ER departing Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.]]
thumb|Biman Bangladesh Airlines [[Boeing 787-8 at Farnborough Airshow.]]
alt=|thumb|Biman Bangladesh Airlines [[Boeing 787 Dreamliner#787-9|Boeing 787-9 landing at London Heathrow in 2020.]]
, the Biman Bangladesh Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft:
{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; margin:1em auto;"
|+Biman Bangladesh Airlines Fleet
|-
! rowspan="2"|Aircraft
! rowspan="2"|In service
! rowspan="2"|Orders
! colspan="4"|Passengers
! rowspan="2"|Notes
|-
!<abbr title="Business Class">C</abbr>
!<abbr title="Premium Economy Class">Y+</abbr>
!<abbr title="Economy Class">Y</abbr>
!Total
|-
|Boeing 737-800
|4
|—
|12
|—
|150
|162
|
|-
|Boeing 737 MAX 8
|—
|4
|colspan="4"|TBA
|
|-
|Boeing 777-300ER
|4
|—
|35
|—
|384
|419
|
|-
|Boeing 787-9
|2
|2
|-
|Boeing 787-10
|—
|8
|colspan="4"|TBA
|
|-
!Total
!19
!14
! colspan="4" |
!
|}
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.
thumb|First Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of Biman in Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong en route to Doha.
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.
All three Dash-8 Q400NG from the first batch of orders received by March 2021. Another two were ordered and will join the fleet by 2022. The number of Dash-8 aircraft will be six by 2022 (including one from lease). By adding Dash-8 Q400NG, Biman Bangladesh Airlines will stop using Boeing 737-800 planes on domestic routes. So Boeing 737-800 will operate on international routes only. Biman will also use Dash-8 aircraft on some short-range international routes.In May of 2026, Biman signed a deal with Boeing 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.
Livery
thumb|left|Boeing 777-300ER "Aakash Pradeep" approaching [[London Heathrow Airport in 2014, wearing Biman's latest livery.]]
In modern Bengali, the word বিমান Biman refers to "aeroplane", originating from the Sanskrit word vimāna, a name given to a flying machine mentioned in ancient Vedic literature. The logo, painted on the tail, is a stylised white stork (বলাকা bôlaka) inside a red circle. The logo was designed by painter Quamrul Hassan. 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.
thumb|right|A rebranding of Biman in 2010, scrapped after 2 months
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.