Biman Bangladesh to buy 10 Airbus jets, breaking Boeing reliance
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has decided to purchase 10 planes from Airbus, in a shift from its Boeing-dominated fleet, the South Asian country's State Minister for civil aviation told media on Monday.
'As per our requirement, the decision has been taken to purchase 10 aircraft in phases. The technical committee is assessing now,' State Minister said.
Mahbub Ali's comments came after sources said the airline was close to a deal to buy 10 Airbus A350 widebody planes, marking its first order with the French planemaker.
'Every country has both Airbus and Boeing in their fleet. We did not have an Airbus in our fleet,' State Minister said, as the airline looks to break its reliance on the US planemaker that typically dominates widebody orders.
The 51-year-old airline has a fleet of more than 20 mostly Boeing planes, over half of which are widebodies, and some Dash-8 turboprops.
Biman Bangladesh's demand for more widebody aircraft comes as travel is seeing a strong post-pandemic rebound. The carrier flies non-stop to 20 destinations worldwide including Britain, Malaysia, Thailand and Canada.
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