Biman's flight chaos makes Umrah pilgrims' journey uncertain
Friday, 23 July 2010
Mashiur Rahaman
Ongoing flight disorder in the state-run Biman has made the journey of thousands of Umrah pilgrims uncertain, diverting them to other airlines, well-placed Biman officials said.
This year a total of 15,000 Muslim pilgrims booked seats in Biman Bangladesh Airlines to travel to the holy city Jeddah to complete Umrah by September 15.
"Biman have managed hauling only 6,000 passengers so-far in its routine flights during over a month period," an official said, adding that it is near to impossible that the national carrier would manage carrying all the remaining pilgrims with its available aircrafts.
Biman now operates the Dhaka-Jeddah flights with its four 380-seater DC-10-30 aircraft, six times a week. Among them, one aircraft has been technically grounded for the last couple of days, creating an average of eight to twelve hours delay in each flight.
Biman scheduled this particular passenger-intensive middle-eastern route with leased 450-seater Boeing 747-200 aircraft. The authority made the advanced reservation system for Umrah pilgrims, considering the B747 aircraft's passenger capacity.
"In absence of the B747 and a DC-10 in our operation, it is difficult for us to accommodate all our scheduled and additional Umrah passengers," an official in the Biman's commercial department explained.
Biman on May 29 suspended all its flights using the leased Boeing 747-200 aircraft, as the authority rejected the Nigerian company's plea for lease contract extension.
The passengers and travel agents have complained that they have been facing serious trouble in reconfirming their booked-seats for Umrah.
"Biman authority kept on giving us new dates every time we apply for reconfirmation," owner of a travel agency said.
Many of us have already taken other available flights, offered by Saudi Arabian Airlines and Emirates, but not everyone is so lucky to get a booking at this peak hour, he explained.
"This is a straight business failure for Biman," aviation industry experts told the FE. These passengers would ultimately take flights of other airlines, leaving Biman, for its 'unwise act' of suspending the operation of B747, the experts added.
Ongoing flight disorder in the state-run Biman has made the journey of thousands of Umrah pilgrims uncertain, diverting them to other airlines, well-placed Biman officials said.
This year a total of 15,000 Muslim pilgrims booked seats in Biman Bangladesh Airlines to travel to the holy city Jeddah to complete Umrah by September 15.
"Biman have managed hauling only 6,000 passengers so-far in its routine flights during over a month period," an official said, adding that it is near to impossible that the national carrier would manage carrying all the remaining pilgrims with its available aircrafts.
Biman now operates the Dhaka-Jeddah flights with its four 380-seater DC-10-30 aircraft, six times a week. Among them, one aircraft has been technically grounded for the last couple of days, creating an average of eight to twelve hours delay in each flight.
Biman scheduled this particular passenger-intensive middle-eastern route with leased 450-seater Boeing 747-200 aircraft. The authority made the advanced reservation system for Umrah pilgrims, considering the B747 aircraft's passenger capacity.
"In absence of the B747 and a DC-10 in our operation, it is difficult for us to accommodate all our scheduled and additional Umrah passengers," an official in the Biman's commercial department explained.
Biman on May 29 suspended all its flights using the leased Boeing 747-200 aircraft, as the authority rejected the Nigerian company's plea for lease contract extension.
The passengers and travel agents have complained that they have been facing serious trouble in reconfirming their booked-seats for Umrah.
"Biman authority kept on giving us new dates every time we apply for reconfirmation," owner of a travel agency said.
Many of us have already taken other available flights, offered by Saudi Arabian Airlines and Emirates, but not everyone is so lucky to get a booking at this peak hour, he explained.
"This is a straight business failure for Biman," aviation industry experts told the FE. These passengers would ultimately take flights of other airlines, leaving Biman, for its 'unwise act' of suspending the operation of B747, the experts added.