Biman set to return second EgyptAir Boeing aircraft
The test flight of the aircraft has already been done successfully by the Vietnam Airlines Engineering Company
The Biman Bangladesh Airlines is set to return the second of two leased Boeing 777-200ER aircraft taken from EgyptAir in 2014, after a two-year negotiation.
The test flight of the aircraft has already been done successfully by the Vietnam Airlines Engineering Company (VAECO), a maintenance and engineering subsidiary of the Vietnam Airlines.
The EgyptAir will take back the aircraft on October 22 from Biman, confirmed Md Mokabbir Hossain, managing director and CEO of the national flag carrier.
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The Biman will have to pay a large amount of compensation to the EgyptAir for not complying with all return conditions, according to Biman.
In July this year, Biman returned the first one by paying the Egyptian airlines a penalty of Tk35 crore.
An investigation is going on over irregularities in the lease process that costs Biman around Tk1,300 crore.
Biman had taken the lease of two planes from EgyptAir in 2014 to fly them for five years, but in reality, it could put them in use for only a year, causing the national flag carrier a huge loss.
Both the aircraft had remained grounded because of engine defects since 2017.
Biman had to waste about Tk1,300 crore on the two Boeing 777-200ERs in lease amount and on repairs and replacement of engines.
Industry insiders now question the deal to lease such old aircraft, and more so because the money it had spent on the two aircraft could easily be used to snap up two brand new planes if another Tk700 crore was spent.
