Technical fault disrupts Biman schedules
Friday, 14 May 2010
FE Report
Technical fault of the state-run Biman's aircraft have disrupted the national airline's flight schedule on Thursday.
The day ended with cancellation of all its domestic flights as well as a couple of international schedule flights, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport, Biman source confirmed.
Sources said that one of Biman's F-28 aircraft was grounded in the morning due to technical complication, detected during the pre-flight inspection.
Out of the three F-28s that Biman operates mainly on domestic and regional destinations, only one aircraft is operational at present. The rest have remained grounded for long.
"Due to the technical problem in our only operating F-28, we had to suspend all four of our pre-scheduled flights with it," well placed Biman official told the FE.
Suspended F-28 flights were, Dhaka-Kolkata (BG 093), Dhaka-Sylhet (BG 603), Dhaka-Chittagong (BG 633) and Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar (BG 633), the airport information office confirmed.
To make the situation worst, technical problem also arose in one of Biman's leased Airbus-310 aircraft (SN-AFT) on Tuesday noon. The aircraft was scheduled to depart for Singapore at 7:30 pm with 110 passengers.
"The Dhaka-Singapore flight (BG 084) was immediately delayed until mid-night that could be extended further," the office source confirmed.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines took delivery of the Airbus-310 in March this year on dry-lease basis from US based International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). Since delivery, the aircraft has been frequently facing technical glitches, making it difficult for Biman to maintain its flight schedules.
On the other hand, out of Biman's two leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft, one (SN-AFL) has been grounded for the last 13 days as a crack occurred on its pilot-side windshield.
The national flag carrier acquired two mid-haul Boeing 737-800 aircraft from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) on dry-lease in January 2010.
Technical fault of the state-run Biman's aircraft have disrupted the national airline's flight schedule on Thursday.
The day ended with cancellation of all its domestic flights as well as a couple of international schedule flights, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at the airport, Biman source confirmed.
Sources said that one of Biman's F-28 aircraft was grounded in the morning due to technical complication, detected during the pre-flight inspection.
Out of the three F-28s that Biman operates mainly on domestic and regional destinations, only one aircraft is operational at present. The rest have remained grounded for long.
"Due to the technical problem in our only operating F-28, we had to suspend all four of our pre-scheduled flights with it," well placed Biman official told the FE.
Suspended F-28 flights were, Dhaka-Kolkata (BG 093), Dhaka-Sylhet (BG 603), Dhaka-Chittagong (BG 633) and Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar (BG 633), the airport information office confirmed.
To make the situation worst, technical problem also arose in one of Biman's leased Airbus-310 aircraft (SN-AFT) on Tuesday noon. The aircraft was scheduled to depart for Singapore at 7:30 pm with 110 passengers.
"The Dhaka-Singapore flight (BG 084) was immediately delayed until mid-night that could be extended further," the office source confirmed.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines took delivery of the Airbus-310 in March this year on dry-lease basis from US based International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). Since delivery, the aircraft has been frequently facing technical glitches, making it difficult for Biman to maintain its flight schedules.
On the other hand, out of Biman's two leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft, one (SN-AFL) has been grounded for the last 13 days as a crack occurred on its pilot-side windshield.
The national flag carrier acquired two mid-haul Boeing 737-800 aircraft from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) on dry-lease in January 2010.