Biman taking steps to prevent loss

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has taken various measures, like introducing dynamic ticket pricing, to prevent irregularities and loss, State Minister for Civil Aviation M Mahbub Ali told parliament yesterday.

Replying to Jatiya Party MP Nasrin Jahan Ratna, Ali said earlier, Biman had to incur huge losses, as its ticket prices were not in accordance with the international market rate.

"The introduction of dynamic pricing made it possible to strictly monitor the process of fixing ticket prices, which led to Biman's revenue rising," he said.

In a scripted answer, the state minister said Biman has also taken strict measures to increase the quality of passenger services.

"Biman has reduced the average luggage delivery time to 45 minutes  through efficient ground handling. The national airline is working to  bring this down to 30 minutes," he said. Ali said Biman  purchased ground support equipment (GSE) equipment worth Tk 45 crore  this year to increase luggage handling capacity.

"Different types of equipment worth Tk 80 crore will be added soon. Process to  purchase GSE equipment worth Tk 113 crore will be completed by June  2023."

Replying to another query, Ali said the government has a plan to upgrade the Barishal domestic airport to an international one.