Biman\\\'s $136.05 million loan proposal awaits MoF nod

FE Team | Published: July 23, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Rezaul Karim
A proposal for pre-delivery payment (PDP) of $136.05 million for purchasing four aircrafts for Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BBA) awaits the Ministry of Finance's (MoF) nod, officials said.
BBA managing director and chief executive officer Kyle Haywood sent a letter to the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism (MoCAT) seeking approval of the loan.
MoCAT has forwarded the letter to MoF to take necessary steps for approval of the loan, they also mentioned.
"We've sent a letter to the Standing Committee on Non-Concessional Loan through MoCAT for approval of the loan," an official of BBA said.
A committee member told the FE: "We're working to approve the loan proposal, submitted to the committee by Biman recently."
Next meeting of the committee will be held in a convenient time to settle the loan issue, he added.
Earlier, BBA board decided to procure four Boeing 787-8 aircraft by 2019-20. In November 2014, Biman called a request for proposal (RFP) in this regard.
The state carrier got proposals from eight foreign firms after calling the RFP. The firms are - BOC Aviation, MRW International, Aviation Finance Company (AFC), Maryna (Private) Limited, Cantor, DVD Group and Doha Bank Marathon Asset Management and Euclid Infotech.
Of the firms, the loan proposal of Maryna (Private) Limited was approved due to its easy conditions at a meeting of the BBA board after detailed discussion.
The tenure of the loan is 48 months, and the rate of interest is LIBOR+1. Legal fee of the loan is $50,000 (max). A process is underway to sign a contract between BBA and Maryna on the loan.
The government agreed to provide sovereign guarantee against the loan on fulfillment of some conditions. As per the condition of sovereign guarantee the loan must be approved by the Standing Committee on Non-Concessional Loan.
In 2008, the government signed a deal with the US-based Boeing to purchase eight new aircrafts. Of them, four are Boeing 777-300 ER and four Boeing 787-8. Later, the government gave purchase order for two more 737-800 aircrafts. Already two aircrafts have joined the national carrier's fleet.
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