JS body slams Biman for carrying goods on seats

A parliamentary body yesterday came down heavily on Biman's respective top officials for causing damage to the tune of Tk 1,000 crore to the interiors of eight aircraft while transporting cargo since March 2020.

Many seats, entertainment systems, interior decoration, toilets, floors, overhead locker of four new Boeing 777-300ER, two Boeing 737 and two leased aircraft are badly damaged when the vessels meant for carrying passengers were used to ferry cargo when air travel nosedived for the pandemic.

"It is not acceptable," a member of the parliamentary standing committee on civil aviation ministry told The Daily Star after the meeting.

In a bid to make a profit of about several crores of taka, the Biman top management has caused damages of hundreds of crores of taka to the aircraft, the committee said.

"We came to know through media reports that the damages will cost Biman about Tk 1,000 crore to fix -- we also wanted to know whether any syndicate was involved in this process," another committee member told The Daily Star.

Subsequently, the committee has asked Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, the MD and CEO of Biman, to furnish details of the incidents in the next meeting, scheduled to be held within a month.

An internal committee has been formed to investigate the matter, said Biman officials on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Biman incurred a loss of about Tk 2,200 crore due to taking a lease of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Egypt in 2014 through a "non-transparent agreement", which was against the interest of Biman, the parliamentary body said at the meeting yesterday.

A sub-committee of the parliamentary body led by Aslamul Haque, an Awami League member of parliament, came up with the findings and found involvement of then top officials of Biman in the lease process, a lawmaker told the correspondent.

After discussion of the sub-committee's report and statements of the former top officials of Biman, the committee sent all its findings to the Anti-Corruption Commission for taking action against the responsible persons following an investigation.

Leased from Egypt Air in 2014 for five years with stringent conditions that went against Biman's interests, the extended range planes remained grounded since 2017 due to engine defects.

The revenue collected from the operation of the two aircrafts was Tk 2,200 crore and the cost behind the two was Tk 3,300 crore, according to the civil aviation ministry.

In 2019, Biman got rid of the two leased Boeing 777-200ERs.