FE Desk
National flag carrier Biman has relaxed the age restriction in getting three Boeing aircraft on dry lease after its earlier tender failed to get any response from suppliers.
In a recent tender, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited has increased the age of the aircraft by two years to 12 years for the planes it has planned to procure against 10 years as mentioned in the first bid, reports UNB.
We didn't get any response from our first tender. So, we'll have to go for the second tender relaxing the age limit for the aircraft," a senior Biman official told the news agency.
Biman has decided to add only aircraft for five years to its fleet beginning from July to December this year with a view to expanding its wings to more destinations.
These three aircraft are of 737-800, 777-200ER and 777-300 ER series.
According to the tender paper, the 777-300ER will have 419 seats in total, while 777-200ER 319 seats while the 737-800 will have 162 seats. In the first tender document, Biman said that the commencement of the dry lease would be from July this year.
Asked about the reason behind the non-availability of 10-year-old aircraft, the Biman official said many international airliners have started inducting aircraft in their fleets for expanding their routes as fuel prices nosedived.
"You can't get an aircraft from the manufacturers within a couple of months, you have to wait for months to get the new aircraft. That's why the airliners are looking for older aircraft," he said.
He added that under-ten aircraft are the prime choice of the airliners as the standard age of an aircraft is considered below eight years.
According to Biman officials, these aircraft would help the national flag carrier fill the gap after the phase-out of two Airbus aircraft from its fleet within the next year. Currently, Biman has two decades-old A310-300s in its fleet, with the seat capacity of one is 198 while another is 196.
A senior Biman official told the news agency that the 737-800 would be used on Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Kathmandu routes, while another two wide-bodied aircraft would be mainly used for operations in the middle-eastern countries.
The Biman official, involved in its Corporate Planning, told the news agency that the carrier is foreseeing a pick-up in sending manpower to the middle-eastern countries as the government has signed some agreements with some governments of these countries in this regard.
"Qatar is going to recruit huge manpower for construction of various types of big infrastructures as it'll host Football World Cup in 2022. A good number of manpower is expected to go there from Bangladesh," he said.
