Biman dives into Tk 11bn loss over Boeing 777-200s leased from Egypt

Two Boeing 777-200 aircraft leased from Egypt five years ago has plunged Biman Bangladesh Airlines into a tailspin of losses worth a whopping Tk 11 billion, reports bdnew24.com.

This piece of information was drawn from a meeting document of the parliamentary committee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism on Sunday.

The meeting held last month heard that the revenue made from the two aircraft totalled Tk 22 billion against expenditures running up to Tk 33 billion. For these planes, the flag carrier had been giving subsidies of Tk 110 million per month before completing the payment in March.

In the meeting, Md Mohibul Haque, senior secretary to the ministry, said Biman was keen to put a halt to leasing jets and that three new aircraft - Dash-8 - were expected to arrive this year.

Among them, two would be added to Biman's fleet this year and the other would join the fleet next year. Each of these aircraft cost $24 million, Mohibul added.

Sayeda Rubina Akter, a member of the standing committee on the aviation ministry, said the process of leasing aircraft was unclear to her and she felt that it needed to be discussed in the committee.

The committee had previously expressed its reservations about leasing the two aircraft, which the Biman leased from Egypt Air on a five-year term.One of the planes was put in Biman operations in March 2014 while the other was incorporated to the fleet two months later.