Biman\\\'s Dhaka-NY flight to take time

Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national flag carrier, has failed to resume flights on the much-awaited Dhaka-New York route, as it could not fix its plane-hire problems. Earlier this year, then Biman managing director Kevin Steele had announced the flights would resume with hired planes from June after a lapse of nearly 18 years. But the Biman authorities say there is little possibility of that happening yet, as plane-lease glitches had not been ironed out. A country planning flights to the US must have a Category-1 rating from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Security is usually their top priority. The FAA banned Biman in 1996, as its rating had dropped to Category-2. Biman’s acting Managing Director Capt Mosaddique Ahmed said they had been trying to restore the Dhaka-NY route for a long time. Despite having fit aircraft, Biman is unable to fly the route as it remains stuck in Category-2. As per an agreement with the US on Aug 17 last year, the country slapped a ban on Bangladeshi aircraft entering its sky until the FAA security observation ended. Until then, Biman was given the option to resume its NY flights with planes leased in a ‘proper’ way from any eligible carrier, according to bdnews24.com.