Bangladesh PM okays acquisition of two freighters

Bangladesh's private airlines struggle to compete with Biman

Evidence in graft probe of Biman's lease of EgyptAir B777s

Strong US dollar wreaks havoc with Biman B787 payments

Cash-strapped Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG, Dhaka) is having to dig deep to meet instalment payments due on two B787s following the depreciation of the Bangladeshi taka against the US dollar. The taka, which operates under a managed floating regime, has experienced a series of sharp devaluations since May owing to a shortage of hard currency in the country. This is likely to cost Biman an extra BDT100 million taka (USD1.05 million) in September.

According to the NewAge newspaper, state-owned Biman obtained USD315 million in loans in 2019 from the country's central bank via the state-owned Sonali Bank to help finance the purchase of two B787-9s. Both planes have since arrived in Bangladesh and are now flying for the airline.

Sonali is managing the quarterly repayments, half of which comes from Bangladesh's Ministry of Finance and the other half directly from Biman. In June, the tenth of what will be 40 quarterly payments due was successfully processed. But by then, the taka devaluation was underway and the quarterly amount due rose by BDT13.2 million (USD139,000).

Bangladesh's NovoAir outraged over fuel hike

NovoAir (VQ, Dhaka) Managing Director Mofizur Rahman has slammed a recent 18% overnight jet fuel increase by state-owned supplier Padma Oil Company Limited, warning the Bangladeshi private airline sector would never be viable if this continues.

In a social media post, Rahman also had a go at Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG, Dhaka), blaming it for NovoAir being forced to take "a suicidal journey" of having to drop its fares to retain domestic market share against the state-owned carrier.

As reported, Rahman has been outspoken about Biman Bangladesh Airlines operating state-subsidised flights enabling it to reduce ticket prices, while the country's private airlines are battling to compete while faced with exorbitant aviation fuel hikes.

Rahman is also General Secretary of the Aviation Operators Association of Bangladesh (AOAB), representing the country's private airlines, which has formally complained to the government about the anti-competitive state of the local aviation sector.

In a July 7 letter shared by Rahman on social media, Padma Oil Company advised that the price of Jet A1 would jump...