Biman to become a ‘smart airline’

Biman has formulated a plan to transform the carrier into a "smart airline" aligning with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's vision of "smart Bangladesh", said Managing Director and CEO of Biman Shafiul Azim yesterday.

"We have made a pledge to make Biman a 'smart airline' in the forthcoming era of 'smart Bangladesh'," he told reporters at a briefing on the eve of 51st anniversary of the national flag carrier at Dhaka airport.

The Biman chief said they have taken up a plan to make Biman one of the top ten Asian airliners and gradually make it one of the top three in Asia.

Azim said he already made some working plan, including expansion of routes using its new generation fleet, and building skilled human resources at all levels of the airline's administration and operational fronts, including pilots.

The main focus of the programme is to ensure good governance, accountability, and transparency from the topmost to the lowest level, he said.

He said that Biman would operate this year's Hajj flights using its own aircraft.

Azim said currently Biman successfully conducts "C-check" and saves USD 2 million per check, which is an extensive examination of individual systems and components for serviceability and functioning of an aircraft.

Recently, Biman saved a total of Tk 20 crore as it successfully conducted C-check on a total of five Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft at Biman's hangar in the Dhaka airport.

Besides, Azim said Biman would introduce online feedback services for passengers and take all necessary measures to maintain flight schedule.

He said efforts have been taken to make the airline more passenger-friendly and to facilitate more digital services through websites for ticketing.

"We are planning to increase capacity of our 24-hour call centres to get complaints of the passengers promptly," he added.

Azim said Biman made a profit of Tk 436 crore in the 2021-22 fiscal year while it achieved 77 percent load capacity, surpassing the target of 74 percent, by carrying 2.8 million passengers last year.

The current Biman's fleet contains 21 aircraft, including 18 of their own, and operates to 20 international destinations.