Biman to hire Malaysian aircraft for Hajj flights
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has decided to take a wide-bodied aircraft from Malaysian Eagle Express on wet lease for carrying pilgrims to Saudi Arabia smoothly during the upcoming Hajj, reports UNB.
“It’s a 747-400 and its seat capacity is 450. A Biman team has already inspected the aircraft and returned home,” a Biman senior official told the news agency.
The official, who preferred not to be named, mentioned that the Board in principle agreed to take a wide-bodied aircraft on lease for carrying the Hajj pilgrims and the Biman authorities would now invite the Eagle Express authority to sit for negotiations.
Earlier, three airliners offered Biman to provide aircraft on wet lease and, of them, the Biman evaluation committee chose the Malaysian one.
A total of 101,758 pilgrims will perform Hajj this year. Biman Bangladesh Airlines will carry a total of 52,046 Hajj pilgrims while the Saudi Arabian Airlines will carry the remaining ones.
The government has announced the schedule for Hajj flights this year with the first pre-Hajj flight set for taking off from Dhaka on August 4.
The Saudi Arabian General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has approved 112 dedicated pre-Hajj flights and 32 scheduled flights for Biman Bangladesh Airlines. It has also approved 105 dedicated post-Hajj flights and 29 scheduled flights for Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
