Biman Bangladesh Airlines plans to order four Boeing 777-300ERs and four 787-8s and expects to finalise a deal soon.

The airline's chairman Mahbub Jamil has announced the order, with first deliveries set for 2013 and 2017 respectively.

Biman says the airline board has given in-principle approval for it to sign a memorandum of understanding with Boeing, something the carrier hopes to do in the coming days.

Biman has tried for several years to order new aircraft but its past efforts were stymied by governments that often balked at the expense. But the carrier says it will now be easier to get approval because last year it became a public limited company.

Biman currently operates a fleet of ageing Airbus A310s, Fokker F28s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, and in the past 12 months has had to temporarily suspend some services as aircraft have had to be grounded for maintenance.




Source: Flight International