Biman Bangladesh

[Ray Finkle]

They don't currently serve Cairo. Don't believe the hype you've read about the BHX segment of the route, this has been about JFK all along, if BHX was that important to them a service would be up and running now, even via LHR as said, with New York to be tagged on when possible. In my opinion BHX were desperate, Biman needed a stop and a deal was done, there were always going to be problems and now a better deal which would side step the US issues and work out cheaper has come along we'll hear no more.

 

[Hassaan]

BHX seemed to care more about the airline serving them as opposed to the opposite - they were just looking for a stop over point. I don't think they've ever had a long running one without it having to be terminated after less than a year because of security issues and what not.

 

[rishabharora]

I have always travelled with Bangladesh airlines. I consider them as one of the best airlines in the region. I sincerely think that all the recent development will help Bangladesh airlines to grow. Check out these urls to learn more about Bangladesh airlines : http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/biman.htm, http://www.cleartrip.ae/airlines/biman-bangladesh-airlines.html.

 

[Hassaan]

However good the airline is, still doesn't explain why the BHX service (that was to be) fell flat.

 

[SRDey]

I am not going to lie I still remember back in 2014 Spring when Biman Bangladesh & Birmingham Airport said they where going to start operating Dhaka-Birmingham- New York JFK using their brand new 777-300ER for August 2014 back when their final DC10 came to Birmingham. I’m wondering what ever happened or went wrong why they didn’t start I really want to know. The only thing I know is it just fell flat on its face which is quite strange considering Birmingham does have a sizeable Bangladeshi Community that live in Bordesley Green,Small Heath, Aston, Lozells it may not be as big as London’s or Manchester’s Bangladeshi Community but still we do have quite a decent sized one of that my family have a a lot of affluent Bangladeshi Hindu friends who are very close to us (My Family being from West Bengal in India) and they live in Acocks Green (my area), Hall Green, Selly Oak, Edgbaston and Solihull and a lot of them go to Bangladesh regularly not only that many of them also have relatives that have settled and live in New York & New Jersey which is where they also go to during most Summer Holidays. So to be completely honest the DAC-BHX-JFK route would have been perfect for them and worked wonders. I know a lot of them have driven all the way to Heathrow just to use Biman for Dhaka or United to go JFK or EWR and they love it (Biman not United ) but when they from Birmingham they fly Emirates to go to Bangladesh anyway which obvious and a lot of them love Emirates as well as Biman not only that many of them also use Air India as well and have do 2 connections 1st in Delhi and then the 2nd in Kolkata before having to take a 3rd flight before having to take another flight to Dhaka which they find ok but a lot of them want to see direct flights to Dhaka and New York From Birmingham because it saves on travel to Heathrow as well connections in Dubai or India. I think the DAC-BHX-JFK route would have done really well or even just a Dhaka route on its own would have been fine and as it would be perfect for the Bangladeshi Community your are also meeting their needs as they go to both Bangladesh and the USA very often not only that Biman has been know to be better out of all the South Asian Carries flag carriers that fly Long Hall especially as Biman have connections to India & the Far East as well. I think Dhaka-Birmingham- New York or just Dhaka-Birmingham route needs to something that is seriously to considered we need to push and promote the route especially for the Bangladeshi Community as they deserve something nice and they are a South Asian Community That is rarely talked about it thought about and not only that it’s a destination that will defiantly do well from Birmingham.

 

[mullion]

Bangladesh have already operated a B777 service to MAN which was only dropped for finacial reasons when the airline got into a little bit of a mess and looks as if they are returning by end of the year by reading all the press comments and I believe their own inflight magazine

 

[Aviador]

@SRDey Do you think a direct service would work in competition with the likes of Emirates?

 

[mullion]

They seem to to be a different market

 

[SRDey]

.

@SRDey Do you think a direct service would work in competition with the likes of Emirates?

@Aviador I think they are likely to compete with the Emirates also they may also compete Qatar and Turkish considering they also have direct connections to Bangladesh as well. The very good thing is many Bangladeshi people love flying Biman as I said I have many Affluent Bangladeshi Hindu family friends in Birmingham as much as they love Emirates and the top class service it’s that Emirates does not really fly to many cities in Bangladesh as where as they fly to more cities in India. Emirates only really fly to Dhaka the Capital city and many people have to fly with FlyDubai or fly to Dhaka and then catch domestic flights to places like Sylhet, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar ect... The one thing about them as much as they hate having to travel to Heathrow they love flying Biman it’s cheep, it’s Direct to both Dhaka and Sylhet so it’s easy for them to connect all across Bangladesh not only that they want to support their national carrier they talk about How wonderful and hospitable the crew are and the fact they also speak many different Bengali dialects especially the very posh dialect that we speak in India not only that the authentic Bengali food that not many people know about and just how friendly the people are onboard. I said before we may only have a small Bangladeshi Community that isn’t as big London’s or Manchester’s but it will work by how much they want a direct route to Bangladesh and the fact they support Biman and it will also work wonders for many Bangladeshi University students coming to study and work or who are already studying and working in Birmingham and the Wider West Midlands region and the amount of fresh vegetables that are imported from Bangladesh to the local Asian supermarkets within Birmingham is just amazing. I hope they do start soon be it on their brand new 787’s or their 777-300ER I think the Bangladeshis in the West Midlands and Birmingham Airport deserve this route.

 

[SRDey]

Bangladesh have already operated a B777 service to MAN which was only dropped for finacial reasons when the airline got into a little bit of a mess and looks as if they are returning by end of the year by reading all the press comments and I believe their own inflight magazine

Yes I remember reading somewhere that they are planning to start a direct a Manchester service they want to start soon and they are planning to use their new 787’s. I remember they used to fly to Manchester but for a short period of time it didn’t really last long I think the route was MAN-LHR-DAC or something like that on a 777-300ER I know at the time also they didn’t really have many 300ER’s in their fleet.

 

[David_itl]

They could do DAC-BHX-JFK but could only be marketed as DAC-BHX and DAC-JFK. When the MAN route was stopped and BHX launched later, the FAA wouldn't let them transfer the MAN-JFK route authority to make it BHX-JFK. I don't know why that was. The only thing we can be certain of is Biman is not talking about BHX so it may not be for a few years before DAC-BHX is even thought about,

 

[IanFarquharson]

How do you know Biman are not talking to BHX ?
They certainly cans close to launching BHX a few years ago when their Australian CEO was in charge, he left and that was that !

 

[mullion]

Talking about and to is a different thing Ian

 

[nwoody2001]

Indeed ....they’ve been talking about launching MAN for at least 3 years when it was originally out in their o flight magazine, and so far nothing has come of it!

Talking and actions are very different!

 

[SRDey]

They could do DAC-BHX-JFK but could only be marketed as DAC-BHX and DAC-JFK. When the MAN route was stopped and BHX launched later, the FAA wouldn't let them transfer the MAN-JFK route authority to make it BHX-JFK. I don't know why that was. The only thing we can be certain of is Biman is not talking about BHX so it may not be for a few years before DAC-BHX is even thought about,

Yes they could do that I suppose it could work but then adverting the routes like that but may be slightly strange

They could do DAC-BHX-JFK but could only be marketed as DAC-BHX and DAC-JFK. When the MAN route was stopped and BHX launched later, the FAA wouldn't let them transfer the MAN-JFK route authority to make it BHX-JFK. I don't know why that was. The only thing we can be certain of is Biman is not talking about BHX so it may not be for a few years before DAC-BHX is even thought about,

How do you know Biman are not talking to BHX ?
They certainly cans close to launching BHX a few years ago when their Australian CEO was in charge, he left and that was that !

Well how ever the route is done be it JFK or No JFK at least Birmingham will get a new Airline and let’s hope it’s very soon in the near future and for the and hope of ever they decided to start a route from Birmingham it’s doesn’t fall flat on its face like most routes from BHX . A Dhaka to Birmingham route would be very useful and do exceptionally well out of BHX indeed as I say we have a mid sized Bangladeshi Community in Birmingham & the West Midlands and many Bangladeshis want a direct route to Dhaka and Sylhet because of this it’s just right for a direct route to Dhaka and Sylhet. A JFK route would be nice I know for a fact that many Bangladeshi will use the JFK route as I previously said many Bangladeshis here and elsewhere have family that are both Elderly & Young that are moving or have established them selfs for many years and are settled in both New York and New Jersey.I think in order to make the BHX-JFK sector on Biman or any Asian Airline (East Asian, South Asian, SouthEast Asian ect...) that wishes to start a USA route via BHX or use BHX as a “Scissor Hub” and we all want to work if it ever happens is to do market tests, market research and Advertise the route as much as possible ect... it’s no good having a Airline that I’ll be honest it’s not great to only have an Airline fly to JFK or EWR that only Majority Asians will use and That you know Non Asians will never even use or hardly use from Birmingham so you will need need to do Market tests, Market Research, and Advertise like never before to that Airline can caterer or even appeal a mass market of both Asian and Non Asian flyers rather than a niche of Asian flyers and see if I can incise all sorts people I think we need to go out and ask the every day people of The West Midlands, Business ect... and find out what they want to see and how they want to see the route to JFK or EWR. I think we will get back out JFK route & EWR even a YYZ route soon it just many take a while to find an Airline that can appeal to everyone to use as well using the right aircraft for the route and costs aren’t to expensive and are likely to stay for a long time rather than 3-4 years then pack their bags and leave BHX for good.

 

[JENNYJET]

Is it possible the authorities in USA are just reluctant to allow regular services from Bangladesh given the nature of the region and other risks?.
Direct or via UK, I can imagine US immigration and Customs may place objections with FAA unless a preclearance procedure can be established at Dhaka or BHX.

I believe Biman is a perfect fit for West Midlands region helping establish BHX as the niche regional for links to the American continent from Asia and Middle East. I suppose slot availability is a deciding element if ATC is under stress at Stanwick with the skies full of Ryanair jets etc.

Okay fantasy but great things come from such dreams!

 

[Nethercote2019]

I thought Biman were going to start flights Dakar to USA via BHX & that’s why they put in the transit security gate in the new pier, I know the then head of Biman was a Brit& it was announced when they flew the Dc10 flights ?

 

[nwoody2001]

...that's was the plan about 5-4 years ago but that CEO subsequently left and plans changed

 

[58terminus]

I know there is little happening but do we have have to resurrect 5 year old rumours that never materialised then?

 

[SRDey]

...that's was the plan about 5-4 years ago but that CEO subsequently left and plans changed

I know it was about 4-5 years ago but I was reading the Emirates thread that went off topic talking about how Emirates should use BHX as sort of a “Scissor Hub” For flights to and Dubai & North America as well other airlines they mentioned in the thread it went off topic talking about other Airlines especially about BA & Virgin at BHX and starting USA routes and I will say reading all the off topic views and opinions on BHX as North America-Asia “Scissor Hub” got me thinking about Biman Bangladesh and how much of huge deal the announcement was round 4-5 years ago it’s just still very sad that nothing really came about but it will always be something of a mystery as to how it just fell flat with out any warning or sort of explanation to why they didn’t start. Even Primera gave explanations as to all their cancellation and collapse of launching their US & Canada service from Birmingham. It’s just the way how both Birmingham Airport and Biman Bangladesh where hyping up the route especially as it would be lunched when the extended runway works back in Spring 2014 and I just think we all need an answer. I still remember back in 2012 when Qatar was planning to lunch the Birmingham route for that same year but nothing really came up until 2016 and then they actually launched the route during Easter 2016. Could it be a Qatar Airways situation where Biman will launch the route when they are ready to or will it be one that will never launch and don’t really see Birmingham as a viable destination even though we have a descent sized Bangladeshi population but let’s be positive hope that it’s another Qatar Airways situation and launch the route when they see fit.

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Biman Bangladesh Adds Long-Haul Route to Birmingham and New York | Aviation Week Network

Biman Bangladesh Airlines will commence a twice weekly scheduled link b

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