Biman to resume Dhaka-NY flights from November
Friday, 14 August 2009
Mashiur Rahaman
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to resume Dhaka-New York flights by the year end with newly leased Boeing 777 aircraft after almost three years, a senior Biman official said.
"We are re-opening the route by November this year," CEO and MD of Biman Muhammed Zakiul Islam told the FE.
He said flights on the route was suspended due to its high operation costs but the inclusion of new generation Boeing 777 aircraft that Biman is on the process of hiring is expected to make the operation profitable this time.
"We took the decision in response to the longstanding demand of Bangladeshi expatriates in America as they fancy flying home in Biman," Mr Islam said adding that the extraordinary long route will have a break at any European destination.
The national flag carrier cancelled its flight on this particular route at the end of 2006 amid operating loss to the tune of Tk 7.5 million (Tk 75 lakh) per flight even with full load of 274 passengers. Biman operated two weekly flights to New York by DC 10-30 aircraft.
However, experts in the marketing and planning departments of Biman sounded not so optimistic about making a profit in this route this time around.
"The passenger rush on Dhaka-New York route has always been satisfactory, but fare is simply too low to make any profit," said an official from the marketing department of Biman requesting anonymity.
Another top official of the planning department said, "The operation cost is too high to leave any room for profit on this route particularly with an aircraft acquired under wet lease."
He said Biman took the decision on pressure ignoring its commercial non-viability. The government made a political commitment to Bangladeshi expatriates in America, so Biman had to bow down to the pressure.
"The authority (Biman) had its own plan to re-open this route but not immediately after taking lease of Boeing 777 aircraft," he said adding that they are preparing a route-plan via Europe to mitigate possible operating loss.
"We are considering a journey break at Manchester where we can attract some New York-bound passengers," he added.
Over 200,000 Bangladeshis live in the USA and more are seeking residence there.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to resume Dhaka-New York flights by the year end with newly leased Boeing 777 aircraft after almost three years, a senior Biman official said.
"We are re-opening the route by November this year," CEO and MD of Biman Muhammed Zakiul Islam told the FE.
He said flights on the route was suspended due to its high operation costs but the inclusion of new generation Boeing 777 aircraft that Biman is on the process of hiring is expected to make the operation profitable this time.
"We took the decision in response to the longstanding demand of Bangladeshi expatriates in America as they fancy flying home in Biman," Mr Islam said adding that the extraordinary long route will have a break at any European destination.
The national flag carrier cancelled its flight on this particular route at the end of 2006 amid operating loss to the tune of Tk 7.5 million (Tk 75 lakh) per flight even with full load of 274 passengers. Biman operated two weekly flights to New York by DC 10-30 aircraft.
However, experts in the marketing and planning departments of Biman sounded not so optimistic about making a profit in this route this time around.
"The passenger rush on Dhaka-New York route has always been satisfactory, but fare is simply too low to make any profit," said an official from the marketing department of Biman requesting anonymity.
Another top official of the planning department said, "The operation cost is too high to leave any room for profit on this route particularly with an aircraft acquired under wet lease."
He said Biman took the decision on pressure ignoring its commercial non-viability. The government made a political commitment to Bangladeshi expatriates in America, so Biman had to bow down to the pressure.
"The authority (Biman) had its own plan to re-open this route but not immediately after taking lease of Boeing 777 aircraft," he said adding that they are preparing a route-plan via Europe to mitigate possible operating loss.
"We are considering a journey break at Manchester where we can attract some New York-bound passengers," he added.
Over 200,000 Bangladeshis live in the USA and more are seeking residence there.