Dhaka, Nov 15: State-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines will sell all its 17 aircraft and replace them with airbus or boeing jets in hopes of ending decades in the red, a spokesman said today. Biman will pay the difference between the revenue from selling its aging fleet and the costs of new aircraft, the spokesman for the airline told news agencies.

"We are going to sell off our entire fleet of 17 aircraft to replace them with absolutely new ones so that we can cut down overhead costs and emerge as a profit-making organisation," he said.
The state carrier has proposals from rival aerospace giants Boeing and Airbus.

"The authorities are now reviewing offers from both the companies as well as the balance amount that has to be paid," the spokesman said.

He blamed Biman's financial woes on high overhead costs and said its flights were on average 70 per cent full.
"Overhead costs like maintenance and operating cost of old and leased aircraft has denied Biman seeing profit," Civil Aviation Minister Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin said separately.

Bureau Report