DHAKA: Biman Bangladesh Airlines has signed a contract with Orient Thai to take over a Boeing 747-300 under lease.

Both sides are clearly delighted by the deal: Biman says it will help the airline stay afloat in growing competition; Orient Thai has several under-utilised Boeing 747s at bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport it has been trying to offload.

The Nation newspaper in Bangladesh reports that officials from the two airlines opted for Orient's 512-seat plane during "a marathon meeting"
on April 20 after Orient submitted the lowest price in a tender round.
The final details of the agreement were concluded at a meeting held last weekend and it was signed by Biman's acting MD Tahir Hossain and Orient Thai executive director Cho Tsnag.

"The aircraft will arrive in Bangladesh on June 20 and we expect that it'll fly as our fleet aircraft within three to four days of its arrival," Biman GM (planning) Md Belayet Hossain said.

The Nation reports sources said Biman will have to pay US$ 5,395 for per block hour for the Boeing 747-300 aircraft. The plane will be used on flights to the Gulf and Middle-Eastern countries.

Biman has also recently leased a 542-seat Boeing 747-200 from a Nigeria-based airline, Kabo Air.

The Nation reports Biman has been facing serious problems in maintaining its flight schedules with barely 11 aircraft in its "emaciated fleet" - four DC10s-30s, four F28s and three A310-300s. Of them, only four or five can fly everyday, while the rest were grounded due to technical glitches.

It says Biman has signed a long-range deal for the purchase of eight Boeing aircraft at a cost of US$ 1.265 billion. Four of those will be available in 2013 and four others in 2019.