Biman’s self-destruction won’t only harm the company.

Biman’s unexpected alternate of coronary heart concerning the profitability of purchasing Airbus A350 planes appears pushed via elements beyond financial viability. After six months of evaluation, Biman to start with concluded in January that the acquisition could cause substantial losses—up to $463.08 million over 25 years. However, on April 22, a brand new appraisal committee took over and, inside just three days, declared the venture profitable. According to a record via this each day, this 2d committee primarily based its end on highly unrealistic scenarios.

For instance, the new committee assumed an average seat occupancy price of ninety two percent—a price Biman has never finished—and projected a 20 percentage sales boom compared to the previous evaluation. Even with those optimistic assumptions, the Airbus planes had been located profitable on best two routes. One of these routes is Dhaka to JFK Airport in New York, a route that Bangladeshi carriers had been not able to serve due to the fact 2006, whilst the USA Federal Aviation Authority downgraded the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) to Category 2 due to operational irregularities.

This raises the query: why would the committee encompass this path in its calculations? Another questionable assumption by using the committee turned into that jet gasoline charges—that are historically unstable and feature currently risen—would lower, contributing to the projected revenue boom.

The committee also not noted extensive prices, consisting of the highly-priced spare parts wanted for the Airbuses and the improved expenditure from operating a blended fleet in preference to a Boeing-based totally one. Despite these optimistic projections, the committee mentioned that this can necessitate a extensive overhaul of the current group and doubtlessly require suspending operations on various routes or decreasing frequency.

Given those concerns, why is Biman nevertheless pushing for the Airbus buy? Biman’s history of defying operational standards, violating procurement regulations, and engaging in scandals and anomalies in team of workers hiring suggests the need for an investigation into its motives.

It’s well worth recalling that on May five of the preceding year, a joint communication was signed by means of UK Minister of State Lord Dominic Johnson and Salman F Rahman, the personal industry and funding adviser to the Bangladesh prime minister, concerning the purchase of eight Airbus A350s and two freighters. This agreement turned into made even before Biman performed a viability have a look at or shaped the primary techno-financial committee. This increases the opportunity that Biman’s choice may be politically influenced. However, one of these decision should not be pushed through politics, given the financial burden it would impose on residents who in the end bear the price of Biman’s operations. Therefore, Biman’s selection to buy Airbus planes ought to be reevaluated based on economic viability.

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