Biman mulls buying Airbus aircrafts

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has stressed the need for charting a roadmap aimed at making Bangladesh an aviation hub as the national carrier Biman Bangladesh is in talks to procure aircraft from aerospace giant Airbus after a similar move by the private carrier US-Bangla airlines.

With discussions still underway, authorities are yet to settle on the number of Airbus aircraft that will be added to enrich Biman's fleet.

The development came up in the first ever Bangladesh Aviation Summit 2023, held on Wednesday, at a city hotel organised by the civil aviation and tourism ministry, the British High Commission and the French Embassy in Dhaka.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a video statement aired in the summit's inaugural session, said that the summit is very significant for the country in the context of Bangladesh's aspiration to become an aviation hub in the region.

"We have undertaken several measures to support the development of an aviation hub. In the last decade, we implemented a host of projects to upgrade our airports, airport security and ground handling," said the prime minister.

Besides, a number of projects are running which include HSIA Expansion Project (Phase-I), Construction of General Aviation Hangar, Hangar Apron and Apron at North side of Fire Station at HSIA; Strengthening of Existing Runway and Taxiway at Shah Amanat International Airport, Chattogram; Development of Cox's Bazar Airport (Phase-I), Cox's Bazar Airport Runway Extension Project; Strengthening of Existing Runway and Taxiway at Osmani International Airport, Sylhet; and Enhancement of Capacity of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh on Public Security at HSIA, she noted.

The premier also pointed out that the air cargo market of Bangladesh is rapidly growing at 8% per year, which is three times the world average.

"This underlines the strong demand for a dedicated national cargo operation in our country. With all of this in mind, there are areas where aviation actors need to do more," she said.

The PM asked relevant government organisations, the airlines and other stakeholders to carry out their responsibility to create a conducive environment for the development and sustaining market both for passengers and cargo.

 "The government is going to introduce e-visa system which will also facilitate and expedite the flow of passengers visiting Bangladesh for business or tourism," she said

She stressed the need for skilled manpower for a promising aviation industry and opportunities for the country's youth to be trained as pilots, aeronautics engineers, mechanics and crew members.

"The aviation partnership proposed by the UK and France, through Airbus, to support us in our journey is very crucial," added the prime minister.

After the inaugural session of the summit State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali told journalists that the aviation summit is not only related to procuring Airbus but to engage in broader collaborations with UK and France to make Bangladesh an aviation hub.

Airbus, a European multinational aircraft manufacturer has been trying to enter Bangladesh for the last few years as its competitor Boeing occupies a significant portion of the market.

The company showcased its new generation Airbus A350 in March last year at Dhaka Airport to top government officials.

Though currently, some foreign airlines including Singapore Airlines use Airbus for their commercial operations in Bangladesh, no local airlines have Airbus aircrafts, according to the industry insiders.

US-Bangla Airlines recently announced that they are going to add two Airbus A330s as part of its plan to increase flight frequency on international routes.

The newly added Airbus A330-200 would arrive in June this year and would be used to connect Dhaka with Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam of Saudi Arabia, according to the airline sources.

They will be the airlines' first wide-body jet(s) with a total of 436 passenger seats.

The current price of the AIRBUS A330-200 is $231.5M, according to AXON Aviation Group (AXON), an aircraft sales, acquisitions and lease specialist based in London.

The price for the most popular models as of 2021 are AirbusA220-100: $91.5 million, Airbus A220-300: $101.5 million, Airbus A319neo:$101.5 million, Airbus A320neo: $110.6 million, Airbus A321neo: $129.5 million, Airbus A330-800neo: $259.9 million, Airbus A330-900neo: $296.4 million, AirbusA350-900: $317.4 million, Airbus A350-1000: $366.5 million and Airbus A380:$445.6 million.

Earlier on Sunday, Biman Managing Director Shafiul Azim said that the national carrier is working on introducing flights in a number of routes including Chennai, Bengaluru, Narita and New York.

About procuring Airbus aircraft, Shafiul Azim, also the CEO of the national carrier told reporters after yesterday's inaugural session, "If our requirements are fulfilled then why not?"

However, he recently told TBS that they want to ensure the maximum utilisation of their existing aircrafts and also expand the fleet through adding new ones.

At present, the total number of aircraft in the Biman's fleet is 21.

Of these, four are Boeing 777-300 ER, four are Boeing 787-8, two are Boeing 787-9, six are Boeing 737 and five are Dash 8-400 aircraft.

As the chief guest at the aviation summit, Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman said, "Airbus emphasised that they are not interested only in selling aircrafts to Bangladesh, they are more interested in technology transfer, education and training."

Earlier in 2020, Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh's Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University (BSMRAAU) to provide its students with world-class pilot training and maintenance engineering skills.

The UK prime minister's trade envoy Rushanara Ali was present as guest of honour at the event also attended by Robert Chatterton Dickson, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh; Marie Masdupu, The French Ambassador to Bangladesh, top officials from Airbus as well as local and international airlines.

Aviation in Bangladesh is expected to become almost triple in growth over the next 15 years, according to the civil aviation ministry.
Currently, the number of air passengers in the country is 8 million which is expected to reach 16 million in 2035.