Maruf Hossain, Dhaka
After coming back from his vacation, Peter Haas, the US ambassador to Dhaka took part in couple of different meetings with different stake holders of the aviation sector in Bangladesh within two weeks. Haas, who was dabbled in politics over the past months, now has expressed his country’s interest in the aviation sector of Bangladesh. Along with that he also encouraged to buy Boeing.
The US Embassy in Dhaka emphasized the importance of robust airport security for expanding international flights, during a meeting on Monday between US Ambassador Peter Haas and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman, Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman.
The meeting included discussions on further development of Bangladesh’s aviation sector and US support in this regard.
A significant point of discussion was the resumption of direct flights between Dhaka and New York. Ambassador Haas assured cooperation from the US government to enable Biman, the national carrier of Bangladesh, to reinstate this route.
The United States is providing technical assistance to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka to meet US and international standards.
This move is part of Bangladesh’s efforts to establish new international routes and become a regional aviation hub.
The CAAB chairman briefed the US envoy about various efforts made by the CAAB and Biman in line with graduating Bangladesh to category-1 following the guideline of Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) of the US.
Before this meeting he has already held a meeting with Bangladesh Biman. In the meeting, he highlighted various aspects of the Boeing Dream liner 787-10, including the benefits of the latest technology fitted aircraft, the benefits of the aircraft.
The display of Dream liner 787-10 was shown in the meeting with Biman. If the new model aircraft is added, the airline will not have to recruit new pilots. This will save a lot of money on the plane. At the same time, unnecessary time will not be spent on pilot training. Also, due to having the same aircraft, the aircraft engineers will not need new training. Existing aircraft engineers will be able to provide all types of maintenance services for new model aircraft.
Despite the detailed meeting with Biman, if the government gets a green signal in this regard, Biman will proceed with the purchase of aircraft from Boeing.
Earlier, the European company Airbus had also offered Biman to buy 10 aircrafts. Airbus said that they will be able to deliver the A-350 aircraft early next year if they get the work order.
Aviation experts said that the two companies can negotiate on the price if they get the proposal. This will create an opportunity for the airline to profit.
Recently, a delegation of the United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has inspected the facilities and security of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Biman has also recently applied to operate flights to the United States. However, before getting this approval, the FAA has to upgrade to Category-1. Along with that, if all the criteria of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are fulfilled, the permission to operate Dhaka-New York flights will be given.
It has been found that all preparations have been completed from the side of the aircraft to operate flights on this new route. And it has been seen that this flight has to be operated with a loss of about Tk. 600 crore per year.