The government has decided to purchase 10 more planes from Airbus SE, a Europeon multinational aerospace company, by this year, aiming to expand national flag carrier Biman’s fleet despite the airline’s failure to utilise its existing fleet to its maximum capacity.
Of the total 10 aircraft, Biman would initially purchase two A350 freighters with a capacity of over 100 tonnes per cargo aircraft. The rest of the eight aircraft will be added in phases.
Experts said that it would be a “suicidal” on the part of Biman which has one of the youngest fleets in Asia with 20 aircraft, including four 787-9 Dreamliners, four 787-8 Dreamliners, six 737-800 NG, four 777-300 ER, and five Dash-8.
They have so far been able to utilise 5 percent of their cargo carrying capacity after loading passengers at 100 percent capacity along with baggage on the international routes. Because every wide-bodied aircraft, including the 787 Dreamliners and 777-300 ER, can carry a minimum of 10 to 12 tones in addition to passengers and baggage.
Most of the modern wide-bodied aircrafts purchased from Boeing by Biman, are grounded due to pilot shortages or other problems, while many of them, which were purchased for long-haul flights, are being used for short-haul flights.
An Air Operator Certificate (AOC) audit report for the years 2021–22, published by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) in February this year, showed that Biman has 11,41,415 (over 11.41 lakh) seats available on seven domestic routes. Biman could utilise only 8,65,781 (about 8.6 lakh) seats in 2022, which is 75 per cent of its overall capacity.
The available cargo transportation capacity was 39,696.591 (about 40 lakh) tonnes, of which only 3,820 tonnes were used, which is 9.55 per cent of the overall capacity.
Presently 20 international routes, Biman has 27,11,367 (over 27.11 lakh) available seats, of which 20,58,571 (about 20.59 lakh) seats were utilised, which is around 76 percent of its overall capacity.
On the other hand, the available cargo capacity on the international routes was 4,98,435.965 tonnes, of which Biman could use only 28,087 tonnes, which is about 6 percent of the total capacity.
The audit was conducted on January 29–31, 2023, covering the January–December period of 2022. The audit report said that deficiencies were noted in six specialty areas, resulting in 39 audit findings.
In this context, CAAB has expressed its discontent against Biman’s performance, saying, "Audit findings identify a situation where the policy, procedure, or activity of Biman Bangladesh Airlines does not confirm full compliance with the approved company manuals or the applicable regulatory standard."
The audit report also mentioned that the total liabilities of Biman are Tk 16,515 crore.
Meanwhile, a press statement issued on Saturday said that Bangladesh and the UK had signed a joint communiqué to establish an aviation partnership between the two countries under which both passenger and cargo aircraft would be purchased from Airbus SE.
When contacted for his comment, Biman Managing Director Shafiul Azim told The Daily Messenger that a joint communiqué on aviation partnership had just been signed. But there is no scope for the supply of aircraft this year as the lead time is almost two years. It may take 10 to 20 years to supply all the aircraft.
The Biman MD said he was outside the country and could not give details regarding the Airbus deal.
When asked about the underutilization of widebody aircraft, an angry Biman MD claimed that there is misinformation and guess work by a quarter. Biman is overburdened with passengers.
Talking to TDM, aviation expert Kazi Wahidul Alam said that it is always a good decision to expand the fleet for any airline, provided the existing fleet is being properly utilised. In the case of Biman, it is not happening.
"There should be a feasibility study as to whether the new 10 aeroplanes are required or not and whether these will be commercially viable. Which models of Airbus aircraft will be purchased and on which routes these will be operated?" he said.
Citing the example of the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners, which were supposed to be operated for long-haul flights, Wahidul Alam said that there is no visible utilisation of these expensive planes as no new routes have so far been opened except for Toronto.
He also said that there will be massive requirements for pilots, cabin crews, and engineers for the new Airbus planes. But Biman already has a huge amount of liabilities, which reached the tune of Tk3,500 crore in jet fuel prices to Padma Oil and Meghna Oil after all the dues were waived in 2008, he added.
He also said that the widebody aircraft were supposed to be used in long destinations but are now being used for short destinations like Dhaka-Chattogram-Jeddah or Dhaka-Sylhet-London, which reduces their life cycle very quickly.
TDM/MI
