Just a week ago, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national carrier of Bangladesh, placed an absolutely massive aircraft order with Boeing (taking into account the carrier’s current fleet size) for 737 MAXs and 787 Dreamliners. Well, the airline has now also placed a firm aircraft order with Airbus, and I can’t help but wonder what exactly is going on, because this just seems like an insane amount of growth.
Biman Bangladesh orders A350-900 & A321neos
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has announced a firm order for 10 Airbus aircraft, including four A350-900s and six A321neos. The airline explains that these planes will operate out of Dhaka (DAC), of course, and the airline plans to “leverage the latest-generation aircraft’s exceptional range, efficiency and operating economics to strengthen its network.”
The airline claims that these planes will help the airline serve North America, and also to expand to key destinations across Europe and the Middle East. The airline hasn’t yet announced the delivery timeline for these aircraft, though the claim is that these are firm orders.
Interestingly, back in 2023, Biman Bangladesh announced that it planned to place an order with Airbus for the A350. However, that wasn’t finalized at the time, and the airline ended up going with Boeing, only to now still place an order with Airbus.
Here’s all that Rumee A. Hossain, Biman Bangladesh’s chairman, had to say about this order:
“Bangladesh is a dynamic nation of 200 million people, backed by a resilient economy and a rapidly growing travel market. We are uniquely supported by a deeply connected global diaspora of 15 million people. In this context, our planned fleet expansion represents a measured and reasonable ambition.”
How these Airbus planes fit into Biman Bangladesh’s fleet
For context on Biman Bangladesh’s fleet, the airline currently has 19 aircraft, including four Boeing 737-800s, four Boeing 777-300ERs, six Boeing 787s (four 787-8s and two 787-9s), and five De Havilland Dash 8s. Just recently, we saw the airline place a firm order for 25 Boeing jets, and now we’re seeing the airline place a firm order for 10 Airbus jets.
It’s pretty wild to see a non-startup airline with 14 jets order 35 more jets, nearly tripling its fleet. I also can’t help but be a bit confused by the unnecessary diversity of this order. Based on the current order book, the airline has the following planes on the way:
- Six Airbus A321neos
- Four Airbus A350-900s
- 10 Boeing 737 MAX 8s
- Two Boeing 787-9s
- 13 Boeing 787-10s
In terms of next generation aircraft already in its fleet, Biman Bangladesh currently has four Boeing 787-8s and two Boeing 787-9s. So if we assume those planes stick around, that means the airline will have:
- Six Airbus A321neos
- Four Airbus A350-900s
- 10 Boeing 737 MAX 8s
- Four Boeing 787-8s
- Four Boeing 787-9s
- 13 Boeing 787-10s
Also, random side note. The airline talks about how it wants to expand to North America, though keep in mind that Bangladesh doesn’t have a Category 1 rating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), so airlines from Bangladesh can’t currently launch flights to the United States. That could change over time, though, but it definitely limits North America growth!
Bottom line
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has placed an order for 10 Airbus aircraft, including six A321neos and four A350-900s. The A350 order was rumored a few years back, so it’s nice to see this be official.
However, I can’t help but be confused by the number of different aircraft types being ordered, from a fleet commonality perspective. That’s because the airline also recently ordered 25 Boeing jets, split between the 737 MAX and 787.
What do you make of Biman Bangladesh’s Airbus aircraft order?
Perhaps, they'll add a row of International First Class, so that Ben 'has to' review it...