Next Stop Dhaka On Biman Bangladesh?!

By: Ben Schlappig

Updated: March 22, 2022
Published: August 5, 2016

82 comments

Yesterday I posted about the confirmed travels I have coming up, as well as the trips I’m considering. There are a lot more airline products I want to review, and the more new airlines I review, the longer my list of airlines I want to review gets. So while I love reviewing more products, it’s almost frustrating, because my list keeps getting longer, rather than shorter. 😉

There were a lot of great suggestions from you guys on more airlines and products to try. Based on my travels lately, the more random the airline, the more I’m into it.

For example, someone suggested Royal Brunei. I’d love to fly Royal Brunei (and I’ve been wanting to for a while), though as far as I know there’s no way to redeem partner miles on them, and I’ve never found a discounted business class ticket on them. I don’t know any other airline which simply doesn’t discount business class. If I’m missing someone or anyone knows of a reasonably priced way to fly with them in business class, I’d love to hear it.

Update: It seems like Royal Brunei is in fact a Cathay Pacific Asia Miles partner… hmmmm…

Air-India-First-Class - 34
Royal Brunei 787 at London Heathrow Airport

One reader suggested Biman Bangladesh:

Fly Biman Bangladesh Airlines Executive Class onboard B777-300ER. But only after flying the ones that you really want to review…..

Okay, this one really intrigued me, as it was never really on my radar. The only thing I know about about Biman Bangladesh is that I’ve seen some of their past-their-prime planes at some airports, like Kuala Lumpur.

Biman-Bangladesh
Biman Bangladesh A310 at Kuala Lumpur Airport

However, Biman Bangladesh is refreshing their fleet, and even has some 777s that are only a few years old. In my opinion, they also have what must be one of the most gorgeous liveries out there.

I started looking at fares on them, and they have some extremely reasonable business class fares. For example, you can fly roundtrip from London to Dhaka via Sylhet in business class for ~$1,300 roundtrip:

Those are two 10+ hour flights, plus a short hop from Sylhet to Dhaka.

This would also be a unique opportunity to visit Dhaka. Based on what I’ve heard the city has extreme poverty, so if nothing else I’m sure it would be eye opening.

Ultimately this is Biman Bangladesh, so I wouldn’t come in reviewing it the same way I would a first world airline, especially in a market which otherwise doesn’t have much competition. However, I think it would be fascinating to see what their product, service, etc., are like.

Is flying Biman Bangladesh a crazy idea? Has anyone been to Dhaka?

More discussion »

Support OMAAT

Conversations (82)

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Comment as a member

Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.

Loading comments…

Recent Comments

The latest from the OMAAT community.

Shaheed Hasan Guest

September 21, 2023, 12:59 pm

Going to Bangladesh would definitely be an eye-opener for you. Before I talk about that, I must say echo that with you..Yes, Bangladesh Biman probably has the most beautiful and one of the most gorgeous liveries out there. It really looks great. Bangladesh has a lot of poor people I admit that but Bangladesh's economy is going up rapidly and now Bangladesh has the highest growth in economy and Bangladesh is the wealthiest nation among South Western countries surpressing India two years before. Bangladesh is the 37th largest economy in the world. Think about it 37th out of almost 200 countries..it is not that bad, right? This year Bangladesh's GDP is 1.4 Trillion dollars Here are some of the important information. Population Increase 165,158,616 (2022 census) GDP Increase $420.52 billion (nominal; 2023 est.) Increase $1.48 trillion (PPP; 2023 est.)[4] GDP rank 37th (nominal; 2023 est.) GDP growth Increase 7.1% (2022)[5] Increase 5.5% (2023f)[5] Increase 6.5% (2024f)[5] GDP per capita th Increase $2,470 (nominal, 2023 est.) th Increase $8,679 (PPP, 2023 est.) The population below the poverty line is 5.6% only. So as you see, it is not a bad place at all. Yes, the traffic is horrendous, time time-consuming..too many cars and rickshaws on the street. But go to New Dhaka, like Gulshan, Banani, Mirpur Dohs, Bashundhora city and so on, some of the most beautiful buildings are in Dhaka. You will be surprised that there are so many beautiful buildings after Dubai and Beijing, China.. So please go to Bangladesh and especially fly with Bangladesh Biman. You will be pleasantly surprised. Thanks.

‼ 0

Riaz Osmani Guest

August 31, 2016, 8:07 pm

Yes, Dhaka does have extreme poverty. But not any more than any other South Asian city. It also has great monuments, historical sights, cultural venues, intellectual places, great restaurants, business and everything you would expect in a city. It has as many mosques as rickshaws. And the traffic is horrendous but that is a sign of economic growth. Scenery along the Buriganga river highlights a very ancient civilisation centred on trade. Northern Dhaka has all the modern amenities you would expect. And the British built Dhaka University and surroundings are a wonderful escape from the hustle and bustle.

‼ 0

John Guest

August 10, 2016, 2:50 pm

Completely echo what Frog said about having transportation, hotel, visa, embassy info all arranged ahead of time. Bangladesh is in a unique class of country where almost anything goes and it feels like chaos most of the time. That said, I think Dhaka is probably a better place to visit than Chittagong. I flew in and out on Emirates. If you do go to Dhaka, check out the mosquitoes in the airport. I've never seen so many bugs inside a building. Spent the entire time swatting. Also arrivals and departures are often delayed by fog in Dhaka.

‼ 0

Curtis Member

August 10, 2016, 2:08 pm

@Lucky - How about trying the premium cabins on some of the LCC's like Air Asia X and Scoot? You could do Biman to DAC and then come down on SQ to SIN or MH to KUL to take the aforementioned airlines. Maybe Scoot to Sydney and then catch Virgin Australia back to LAX!

‼ 0

RC Guest

August 8, 2016, 6:39 pm

This is freakin awesome! you got to do this!

‼ 0