Twelve international carriers have submitted bids for the CMI (crew, maintenance and insurance) management of Biman’s long-suspended Dhaka-New York flights, with the government reportedly planning to reopen the route by next summer.
This is the second time Biman has invited tender to appoint CMI partners for reopening the flights, which last operated in 2006.
According to Biman, the previous tender failed to receive satisfactory proposals under the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements.
As per FAA rules, it is mandatory for any flight on the route to have CMI management with category 1 air operator’s certificate. As Biman is a category 2 operator on the FAA list, it needs to hire a category 1 operator for managing its flights.
The Biman board of directors has already met once and is scheduled to meet again soon to discuss the bids.
“We have a plan to reopen the route before the next summer as the peak time for the route starts that time,” AM Mosaddique Ahmed, acting managing director of Biman, told the Dhaka Tribune last week.
Sources said only four of the 12 interested parties were based in the US and were likely to be selected as operators outside the US can get permission for seven months while US operators can get permission for a couple of years.
The sources also said they had received two types of offers: one for a per block hour basis and another for a yearly contract.
The US-based Ryan International Airline has asked $2,900 for per block hour for a two-year contract while Atlas Air has asked $25.01m for one year and $49.99m for two years.
Omni Air International, another operator from the US, has asked $5,625 for per block hour; while US operator Southern Air asked $4,100 for per block hour for the first year and, if contract is extended, it will be $3,629 for per block hour.
A senior executive from Biman’s planning wing said they had some better offers in terms of cost-effectiveness; but Biman might face problems if seven-month FAA permissions were not extended after expiration.
Sources said Eagle Express from Malaysia made the cheapest bid, asking for only $2,817 per block hour, but it also faces the seven-month barrier.
“Now the decision will go to the board and they will have to choose from these offers if they want to reopen the Dhaka-New York flights by next summer,” a senior executive of Biman said.
Biman will also need to de-register two of its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft it wants to use for the route under the name of the hired operator.
In May, Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon said resuming the Dhaka-New York flights was a top priority of his ministry.