Biman decides to purchase 2 cargo planes from Airbus

[Black_cats]

Biman Bangladesh Ready To Drop Boeing and Order Airbus A350s​

BYMICHAEL DORAN
PUBLISHED 15 HOURS AGO

Access to funds and aggressive marketing appears to be behind Biman Bangladesh's switch to Airbus A350 widebodies.

Photo: Airbus

A high-level agreement signed between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom on Friday has paved the way for expansion in the Bangladeshi aviation sector. The two nations have formed an Aviation partnership to develop the industry, which includes provision for purchasing Airbus passenger and cargo jets.

The UK's Investment Minister, Lord Dominic Johnson and Salman F Rahman, the private investment and industry adviser to Bangladesh's Prime Minister, signed the agreement in London. The aim is to strengthen Bangladesh's trade and investment relations with the UK and the other European partners of Airbus to develop aviation.

What does the deal deliver?​

In a practical sense, it will give Bangladesh access to long-term credit facilities from the UK Export Finance Scheme on favorable terms for purchasing Airbus aircraft. This brings to life the purchase of Airbus A350s by Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Biman), which announced a decision to order two A350F freighters earlier in the week.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1655190460921683970

While firm details on the number of aircraft that will be ordered were not released, reports in Bangladesh's Business Standard said Biman is ready to purchase up to ten Airbus A350s, including the two A350F freighters. These will be the first dedicated freighters in the Biman fleet and are expected to arrive in 2026.

Photo: Fasttailwind I Shutterstock.

According to Flightradra24.com, Biman has an all-Boeing jet fleet of 16 aircraft, including four 777-300ERs, four 787-8 and two 787-9 Dreamliners and six 737-800s. The carrier also uses five De Havilland DHC-8-Q400 turboprops for its regional operations. The 777-300ERs have an average age of around ten years, and with delivery dates for A350s stretching out to the second half of the decade, the Boeing widebodies are obvious candidates for replacement.

Why switch from Boeing to Airbus?​

Apart from wet leasing aircraft, the only Airbus planes operated by Biman were the six A310-300s in its fleet between 1996 and 2016. This decision to switch from Boeing to Airbus marks a change of direction and is part of the broader national goal to develop the nation's aviation industry.

Photo: Airbus
The state minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, Mahbub Ali, said last week:

"The government plans to revive and regain the international aviation market following the Prime Minister's directives on turning the country into an aviation hub in the subcontinent. We have taken a policy decision to purchase 10 new state-of-the-art aircraft for Biman."

Biman's Managing Director and CEO, Shafiul Azim, explained that the airline plans to launch several new routes, with a decision made on services to the United States and Japan. He added that "the procurement of the Airbus fleet is part of our plans for the region."

Photo: Airbus

The shift into running a dedicated cargo operation is uncharted waters for Biman, which the Business Standard is because the airline wants to capture a slice of the garment and textile exports currently moved by overseas cargo carriers. In March, Airbus produced its first parts for the A350F, which was initially due to enter service in late 2025, but that has now been shunted back to early 2026.

What do you think of Biman Bangladesh's shift to Airbus? Let us know in the comments.

https://simpleflying.com/biman-bangladesh-order-airbus-a350s/

 

[fallstuff]

Was reading an article on Daily Star that Biman is not even using 94% of the present cargo capacity. The passenger capacity is above what is being utilized.
If Daily Star analysis is correct then what are these guys thinking ?
Biman is probably hoping with new terminal the passenger demand will increase.

 

[bluesky]

Half Market Price is Hasina Propaganda again.

What would help would be to Benchmark management and technical expertise and processes from France and UK on how to run efficient cargo operations, which is horrible with how Biman now runs it.

Purchase of NEW Airbus airplanes will not help in that regard. It will only help in lining Hasina and Rehana's Swiss Bank Accounts.

We have to attack the problem at the root - to solve it.



Biman can easily run routes to Japan and US using B787-9 and B777-300ER.

Tokyo to US (LAX and SFO) is run commonly by B777 which is a 16 hour leg.

Besides Biman is already running an even longer non-stop leg from DAC to Toronto (DAC-YYZ) using B787-9 which is a 21 Hour leg.

Why they need "NEW" Airbus for these Japan and US routes - I have no idea....

Biman's average fleet age is the lowest in the region, and they need NEW aircraft AGAIN ??

They can easily add a few leased cargo freightliners to try out the cargo service and then expand.

Shob ghoosh ar durnitir harir loot.

Nothing good to change in the passenger or cargo handling of BIMAN unless its operations are privatized.

 

[Bilal9]

Boeing had a seminar and a PR junket in Dhaka extolling the virtues of Boeing Freighters and saying that buying Airbus will increase Biman's fleet costs severalfold, which actually makes sense.

 

[bluesky]

Boeing had a seminar and a PR junket in Dhaka extolling the virtues of Boeing Freighters and saying that buying Airbus will increase Biman's fleet costs severalfold, which actually makes sense.

Hasina Bibi is now eager to punish the American govt by choosing Airbus planes over Boeing ones. She slapped Boeing's face but taught a lesson to the govt of America for suggesting a fair election in BD.

বাড়ির ঝি-কে মেরে বৌকে শাঁসানো।

 

[mb444]

Biman is a dead horse.
Corruption is the culprit.

The Biman aicrafts still have liverys from 1970’s!!!

Bimans fleet is entirely new.

 

[Sandwalk]

Bimans fleet is entirely new.

The airline fleet might be new but the management? Going by typical uncles in goverment jobs… you know

 

[ThunderCat]

Boeing had a seminar and a PR junket in Dhaka extolling the virtues of Boeing Freighters and saying that buying Airbus will increase Biman's fleet costs severalfold, which actually makes sense.

Bimans' crew have certifications for the B777 which includes the 200ER & 300ER.

So it would probably make more sense to induct the 200F since the type rating remains the same. Only some logistics exams might be needed to certify the pilots to fly it.

But from what I know the B777-200LR is made from heavier materials, so it has a heavy landing weight, making it costly to maintain.

In this sense, the Airbus 350-900F might be a better option as it would be made of lighter composite materials, so requiring less maintenance fees from flying cycles.

Selecting planes as you probably know requires too many factors but added, but ultimately the most profitable one is what they all want for their needs.

The 200ER could also be considered, although I've never known this plane to be a freighter.

 

[mb444]

The airline fleet might be new but the management? Going by typical uncles in goverment jobs… you know

Management is terrible. It needs and root and branch overhaul.

 

[X-ray Papa]

Bimans' crew have certifications for the B777 which includes the 200ER & 300ER.

So it would probably make more sense to induct the 200F since the type rating remains the same. Only some logistics exams might be needed to certify the pilots to fly it.

But from what I know the B777-200LR is made from heavier materials, so it has a heavy landing weight, making it costly to maintain.

In this sense, the Airbus 350-900F might be a better option as it would be made of lighter composite materials, so requiring less maintenance fees from flying cycles.

Selecting planes as you probably know requires too many factors but added, but ultimately the most profitable one is what they all want for their needs.

The 200ER could also be considered, although I've never known this plane to be a freighter.

What happened to you, why are you so nice to Bangladeshis today?

 

[ThunderCat]

What happened to you, why are you so nice to Bangladeshis today?

If discussing about planes is "being nice to Bangladeshis" I must have been doing that for years. Better question what are you doing on our forums? Who invited you here?

 

[X-ray Papa]

Who invited you here?

Imran khan

 

[ThunderCat]

Imran khan

Do us a favor and join him in prison.

 

[Bilal9]

Here is an image showing build quality of Boeing Aircraft. I doubt flimsy airbus aircraft would even survive in this situation.

The whole top of the fuselage was torn away in flight cruise mode and one flight attendant lost her life. However the rest of the plane was made to land safely with no further loss of life. All survived to tell the tale. Aloha airlines flight 243, Hawaii - April 28,1988.

This is why the majority of Cargo Aircraft today are converted 767's and 777's. Boeings are just built tougher.

 

[Bilal9]

Bimans' crew have certifications for the B777 which includes the 200ER & 300ER.

So it would probably make more sense to induct the 200F since the type rating remains the same. Only some logistics exams might be needed to certify the pilots to fly it.

But from what I know the B777-200LR is made from heavier materials, so it has a heavy landing weight, making it costly to maintain.

In this sense, the Airbus 350-900F might be a better option as it would be made of lighter composite materials, so requiring less maintenance fees from flying cycles.

Selecting planes as you probably know requires too many factors but added, but ultimately the most profitable one is what they all want for their needs.

The 200ER could also be considered, although I've never known this plane to be a freighter.

The Airbus 350-900F isn't even being manufactured at the moment, if I recall correctly. The only other Airbus that is in use as cargo aircraft is the A330F.

They are taking orders and Biman will be one of the buyers per the MOU they signed with Airbus.

I believe SIA was the 1st Airline launch customer, taking delivery in 2026 or so.

Airbus A350 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Airbus typically is not even in the cargo market. More than 90% of all cargo aircraft are Boeings, 767's and 777's mostly. This is why Airbus is after Biman, they want to gain a foothold in South Asia, Biman is easy pickings.

If it were me, I'd pick one or more converted B777-200LR's as cargo carriers, those are rather common, both DHL and Fedex uses them nowadays.

DHL Express orders 9 B777-200LR converted freighters - Air Cargo News

DHL Express has ordered nine Mammoth Freighters-converted Boeing 777-200LR freighters from lessor Jetran. The first cargo aircraft will be delivered in

www.aircargonews.net

By the way Biman has

21 Aircraft
Average Fleet Age	8.8 Years

Here is the current Fleet listing which includes four 787-8 and two 787-9 dreamliners. Biman operates a non-stop leg to Toronto from Dhaka using the latter.

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www.planespotters.net

By the way having a cargo airplane made of GFRP or CFRP (which is what Airbus does) is a negative in my mind. And cargo airplanes can be a bit heavier because they also need to be far more robust than say, passenger airplanes. There are tons of reinforcing gussets and triple-ply joints in a cargo airplane, especially around where the large cargo door frames are, which are solid alloy metal.

Here is a sampling of current Dhaka airliner traffic (mostly local and regional).