The authorities of Biman Bangladesh Airlines are planning to scrap its two DC-10 aircraft locally, as no museum has agreed to keep one of them that had made a 'much-hyped' farewell flight to the UK -- finally destined for a place at a US museum, top Biman officials said Sunday.
The other DC-10, now grounded in Dhaka, has been waiting to be dismantled.
After operating the last passenger flight and some scenic tours in the UK, the world's last McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft will return to Dhaka on February 26.
Managing Director (MD) of Biman Kevin Steele told the FE that as per its earlier plan, the last DC-10 had been scheduled to be sent to the Boeing aviation museum, but the company had refused to take it since there was no space in the museum.
"The DC-10 was originally going to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, USA, but unfortunately they did not have room. We were then looking for it at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome, a museum in the UK for just a nominal fee, and they also refused to take our proposal," he said.
Mr Steele, also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the airlines, said Biman Board of Directors then decided to bring it back to Dhaka. "We will bring back the aircraft to Dhaka on February 26, to be sold for scrapping," he added.
The Biman MD further said: "This (the decision of scraping) was because we had received a better financial offer to scrap it in Dhaka."
General Manager (public relations) of Biman Khan Mosharraf Hossain also confirmed the FE that they were going to scrap the DC-10 aircraft locally.
"As the museum refused to give room for the DC-10, we have no option other than scrapping it here," he added.
Earlier, the Biman MD told the FE: "We have two DC-10 planes now, both 30 years old. One is now grounded, waiting to be scrapped locally. The other DC-10 aircraft will conclude its commercial flight on February 24."
While announcing the memorable flight, Mr Steele said, "Due to an overwhelming response from aviation enthusiasts from around the world, we are going to operate 'scenic flights' on the weekends of Feb 22, 23, and February 24 from Birmingham Airport."
The DC-10 flew in to Birmingham Thursday for the last time as commercial flight and reached the destination in 13 hours.
After the valedictory flight, the DC-10 operated a couple of one-hour 'scenic' tour flights, Kevin Steele said adding, "As the phase-out of the aircraft will be the end of a generation of aviation industry, a huge interest has been created among the enthusiasts around the world."
The DC-10 is a three-engine wide-body jet airliner manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, which has not built any aircraft of this type after 1988. No airline companies in the world run DC-10 now.
"In the sky since 1971, 446 DC-10 planes have so far been built, and this aircraft was one of the last to come off the Long Beach, California, production line in 1988," the Biman MD said.
The two DC-10-30s were procured by General HM Ershad's administration in the 1980s.
Two more 380-seater DC-10s were bought through lease-to-purchase deals with the company in the 1990s as part of Biman's expansion drive into Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia.
According to Biman's maintenance department, the planes frequently face technical faults, disrupting schedules due to delay in or halt to flights.
Owing to their aging, they were proved to be fuel-guzzling, aggravating Biman's financial health during the years of high oil price.
Fuel accounts for some 60 per cent of Biman's budget, but in the case of the DC-10s, fuel has been devouring 70 per cent of the cost, officials said.