Foreign airlines romp in Biman's woes

FE Team | Published: April 18, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Mashiur Rahaman
The country's fast booming aviation market has proved to be a bonanza for the foreign airlines, as they continued to grab Biman's market share, cashing in on its image crisis and diminished fleet strength.
Figures by the Civil Aviation Authority showed Saturday that the national carrier carried 1.05 million passengers in 2009 - down by nearly six per cent than the previous year.
During the same period 27 foreign airlines who operate flights to the country's two international airports have handled 2.8 million passengers - up about 16 per cent than 2008.
Data of the private airlines' share in the Bangladesh's US$600 million passenger aviation market was not available.
"Foreign airlines have now captured more than 70 per cent of the country's air passenger market," said a civil aviation official, adding that the overseas carriers held two-thirds of the market in 2008.
"In contrast, Biman continues to lose ground due to its poor fleet size. It also suffers from bad image. Even expatriate Bangladeshis avoid Biman as they feel that the national carrier is not safe for journey and its service quality is not good," he added.
Biman had a fleet size of eight aircraft until December 2009, down from 13 in 2006. It include -ed four old DC-10 aircraft and two F-28 aircraft, which were frequently grounded due to technical glitches and overhauling.
The airline had a market share of more than 40 per cent in 2001, when about 20 international airlines operated flights to and from Bangladesh. The market share was about 50 per cent in the early 1990s.
The national airline has failed to capitalise on a boom in air passenger market in the past two decades, driven largely by surge in overseas employment in the Persian Gulf and South East Asian nations.
Carriers from the Gulf countries such as Emirates, Etihad, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Qatar Airways were the main beneficiaries of the growth.