National flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to sign an aircraft purchase agreement with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing. The agreement is scheduled to be signed at Hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka at 7:30 pm tomorrow, Thursday (April 30).
According to the proposed agreement, 14 new aircraft will be purchased for about 3.7 billion US dollars (Tk 37,000 crore). These include eight Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and four Boeing 737-8 Max jets.
Senior government officials, diplomats and aviation sector stakeholders are expected to be present at the agreement signing ceremony. Managing Director and CEO Kaiser Sohel Ahmed will sign the agreement on behalf of Biman and a representative of the company will sign on behalf of Boeing. Biman Bangladesh Airlines sources said.
According to Biman sources, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Ms Afroza Khanam, State Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat and US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent Christensen will be present at the signing ceremony of the aircraft purchase agreement with the US Boeing Company.
The agreement is expected to be the largest fleet expansion move in the modern history of the national airline.
Biman officials said that the order for these aircraft has been placed with the aim of modernizing the fleet, increasing long-haul capacity and strengthening regional operations as passenger demand continues to increase in the country.
According to them, the wide-body Dreamliner aircraft will play an important role in expanding services on long-haul routes in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. On the other hand, the Boeing 737 Max aircraft will be helpful in operating operations on regional and short-haul routes.
