Biman set to get new board of directors

FE Team | Published: January 16, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to have a new board of directors with a conglomerate of civil-military bureaucrats, including a few recruits unfamiliar with airlines trade, raising concern whether the national flag carrier will be able to make a turnaround in its fortune.
"The names of the new board members have been finalised from our ministry," Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon told UNB.
Biman is now out of its board as the tenure of the Biman board of directors with Air Marshal (retd) Jamal Uddin Ahmed as its chairman expired on December 30 last.
According to sources at Biman, the Prime Minister's Office constitutes its board of directors following a proposal of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
Responding to a question about the formation of Biman's new board of directors, Mr Menon said, "It's like that of the past... the file in this regard has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office for the PM's final approval."
The tenure of the new board will come into effect after the publication of a gazette notification with the names of its members.
A former Biman board director who spoke on condition of anonymity suggests that personnel having knowledge about running commercial airlines should be incorporated in the board to make it an effective one as Biman is now competing with at least 10 world renowned airliners.
World's most big and skilled commercial airliners operate their flights in Dhaka. Their skill and knowledge in operating commercial airlines are much higher than that of Biman, he said.
He further said, "If Bangladesh wants to compete with those world-class airliners, it must have persons having commercial knowledge about Biman management, there's no alternative to it."
Dogged by losses, Biman Bangladesh Airlines is looking for all options to make a turnaround.
Bangladesh Biman was made a public limited company (PLC) on July 23, 2007 during the interim rule of army-backed caretaker government with a view to making it a profitable commercial venture.
It was also said at that time the government would gradually offload 49 per cent of its shares of the airline to the private sector, but that did not happen.
Currently, Biman has four 777-300ERs, two 737-800s, one 777-200ER and two A310-300s in its fleet.
In an effort to modernise Biman fleet with new generation aircraft, Biman signed two agreements with Boeing in April and May 2008 for purchasing new generation four 777-300ERs and 787-8s and two 737-800s.
Four 777-300ER aircraft already joined the Biman fleet. Besides, two 737-800s and four new 787-8s are scheduled to be delivered by Boeing in November-December 2015 and 2019-2020.