Biman Bangladesh Airlines

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Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Bangla:বিমান বাংলাদেশ ) is an airline based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the national airline and operates domestic services and international routes to Asia, Europe and the United States. Its main base is Zia International Airport, Dhaka.

History

Biman Bangladesh was established on 4 January 1972 and started operations in February 1972, when a Douglas DC-3 that had seen action in World War II was given to the company as a present by the Bangladesh Air Force. Soon after, a Boeing 707 and Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft joined the airline's fleet, allowing Biman to begin international flights.

In 1983 Biman acquired Douglas DC-10 aircraft, and subsequently other planes such as the Airbus A310, Fokker F28 and British Aerospace BAe ATP. On January 31, 2003, the airline received 2 Boeing 737s.

The airline is 100% owned by the Bangladesh government. However, the government is now planning to offer 40% of Biman to foreign airlines, with the intention that the buyer will assume management control of the carrier. A further 9% of the airline will go to employees.

Destinations

Biman Bangaldesh operates the following services (at April 2006):

• Domestic scheduled destinations: Barisal, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Dhaka, Jessore, Rajshahi, Saidpur, and Sylhet.

• International scheduled destinations: Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Bangkok, Dammam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Manchester, Mumbai, Muscat, New York, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, Singapore, Tokyo and Yangon.

Biman McDonnell Douglas DC-10

Biman Airbus A310-300

Fleet

The Biman Bangladesh fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of June 2006):

• 4 Airbus A310-300
• 4 Fokker F28 Mk4000
• 5 Douglas DC-10-30

Livery

Dark green and red cheatlines on a white fuselage, with the name Biman Bangladesh written in green, in English on one side and Bengali on the other. The name is located across the front part of the fuselage. A Bangladesh flag is next to the name. The logo of a white bird flying inside a red circle is located at the tail, with dark green and red lines above and below the red circle.

Name

The name Bangladesh Biman comes from the Bangla word biman, meaning "airplane". The word biman itself comes from the Sanskrit word vimāna, a name given to a type of flying machine mentioned in ancient Vedic literature.

External links

• [Biman Bangladesh Airlines]
• [Biman Bangladesh Airbus Fleet Detail]
• [Biman Bangladesh Passenger Opinions]

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