Biman to carry hajj pilgrims without any hassle: MD

A top official of Biman said the airline would be able to fly hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia without any disruption to its current network, even though it is yet to finalise the lease on aircraft.
“We will be able to carry pilgrims without a third carrier and with no disruption to the rest of our network,” Kevin Steele, managing director and chief executive of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, told a press conference at Biman headquarters in Dhaka yesterday.
Failing to lease the necessary number of aircraft for hajj operations last year, Biman management engaged several of its aircraft for hajj purposes, causing immense sufferings to several thousand passengers.
Many people were stranded at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and hotels for days, with many facing the threat of losing jobs overseas for failure to join work on time.
Meanwhile, a meeting at the civil aviation ministry yesterday decided that out of the total 1.27 lakh aspiring pilgrims, Biman will carry 65,000 and the rest will be ferried by Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The meeting also turned down a demand by Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh to allow a third carrier to ferry the pilgrims.
Addressing a post-meeting brief at the Biman headquarters, Civil Aviation Minister Faruk Khan said the national carrier will lease two Boeing 747 aircraft by June for the hajj operations.
The airline is looking to lease two Boeing 777-200/ 200ER aircraft, which will supplement the hajj operations, the Biman MD said at the briefing.
On how Biman would profit by operating leased aircraft, he said they are taking a dry lease (only the aircraft), which will enable them to make a profit according to their calculations. Biman was previously unable to make a profit from operating leased aircraft.
Steele also said the national flag carrier will be commercially viable and profitable in fiscal 2014-15.  He said the airline can earn $20 million a year without hiking the fare with a better revenue management system.
Steele said the airline might increase fare only during peak seasons, when all airlines do so.
Biman plans to achieve 80-90 percent punctuality by the yearend, he added.  On intervention from political high-ups, Steele said he has met the civil aviation minister and the Biman board who gave him complete authority. He said he is yet to meet the prime minister but he is sure that she will have the same opinion.
“If there is any form of intervention, I would deal with it on a commercial basis. We have to be a professionally-run airline and that is my aim.”
The Biman MD also mentioned several steps the airline is going to take, like keeping a standby aircraft, reopening the Delhi and Hong Kong routes and setting up a call centre and email address to respond to customer queries.
The airline will also launch a new website with which a customer will be able to book a specific seat number or order a special meal and get various other services.
He said the management and the Biman's collective bargaining agency will be signing an agreement on using fingerprints to record staff attendance.