Tag Archives: 47817

Biman Bangladesh Airlines to now retire the last DC-10 on February 20, will host enthusiast flights from Birmingham

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Dhaka) has delayed the retirement of its last McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Here is the updated message by the airline:

On, or about February 14, 2014 this three-engine wide-body will be withdrawn from scheduled service and prepped by engineering for its final flights. The last commercial flight will be on Thursday, February 20 when flight BG 1015 takes to the skies at 0830 from Dhaka enroute to Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Operating via Kuwait this flight will arrive in Birmingham the same day at 1620. Priced at only ₤ 600 (plus taxes) for a window seat or ₤ 500 plus taxes, for all the other seats, we have kept the pricing at minimal levels to ensure the flight is accessible to as many as possible.

But this is not its final operation. Due to an overwhelming response from aviation enthusiasts from around the world, we are going to operate scenic flights on the weekend of February 22, 23 and 24 from Birmingham airport. The first flights to go on sale will operate on the Monday, February 24 at 0900, 1200 and 1500 with a block time of an estimated one-hour. If as expected, they sell out quickly we will open up the Sunday, February 23 flights up for the same times of 0900, 1200 and 1500. As these sell out then we will open up the Saturday flights also at the same times – 0900, 1200 and 1500. As with the last commercial flight from Dhaka, we are keeping the prices for these scenic flights at reasonable levels with prices of ₤150 for a window seat and ₤100 for an aisle seat. Please note that for the last commercial flight ever on Monday February 24 @ 1500, prices have been set slightly higher at ₤200/₤150. In order to keep the flights as “special” as possible we are only selling 152 of the 319 seats on the aircraft – therefore all are window or aisle seats.

We want to make sure these flights only sold to aviation enthusiasts and not to third parties or wholesalers, so you must book on-line at www.biman-airlines.com. For the last commercial flight ever, on February 24 @ 1500, we have teamed up with Ian Allan travel in the UK at www.ianallantravel.com /aviationtours/ who will also sell tickets.

Biman Bangladesh is the last passenger operator of the DC-10.

Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 S2-ACQ (msn 47817) arrives at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines:

Biman Bangladesh Airlines to retire its last McDonnell Douglas DC-10 on January 30, ending an era

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Dhaka) is currently now planning to operate the last passenger McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 revenue flight on January 30 on a regular flight between Kuwait City and Dhaka as a stand-by aircraft. This retirement is always subject to change due to operational requirements. Biman currently has two DC-10-30s which are also the last passenger DC-10s operating in the world. The airline is offering a ferry flight to Birmingham and possible scenic flights in the UK in which it will sell seats.

Previously CEO Kevin Steele issued this statement on November 10, 2013:

There has been a lot of interest lately from press, aviation enthusiasts and the general public, on what will be happening with Biman’s last DC-10s, which will be phased out in the coming months with the arrival of new aircraft. These are the last flying passenger DC-10-30 aircraft in the whole world. So I thought I would take this opportunity to brief you with the latest news, which will be updated when further firm news becomes available.

Biman currently has 2 DC-10-30s flying. As their fuel consumption is higher than other aircraft in our fleet, they are used sparingly. One of those DC-10s will come to the end of its economic life on November 10, 2013 and will be scrapped locally. The last DC-10 will continue normal flying until December 7, 2013, the start of the revised schedule for the fog period here in Dhaka. Thereafter, it will only be used as a standby aircraft, in case another aircraft in our fleet become unserviceable for any reason. We will not be scheduling it on any route though.

This last DC-10 will continue as a standby aircraft until sometime in February 2014. The exact date is not known yet, as it is being coordinated with the arrival of our brand new Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft from Boeing. We expect to know the exact date in early January 2014.

The last DC-10 is being donated to a museum in the USA, a fitting end for an aircraft that has served Biman loyally and well over many years. Accordingly, we will then offer for sale, as a last opportunity to travel on a passenger DC-10, anywhere in the world:

a. Seats on a last flight Dhaka to Birmingham (UK). Note this will need a technical stop
somewhere.

b. 2 (or more if demand requires it) one hour ‘scenic tours’ to/from Birmingham

c. We are unsure if the US authorities will give us traffic rights on the Birmingham to USA
sector. If they do, this will also be offered for sale.

d. We are also discussing with the UK Post Office, about the carriage of ‘Last day Covers’
on the last sector Birmingham-USA, for sale at a later date.

Tickets will only be sold via our website, hopefully from early January, so do not buy tickets elsewhere, we want these tickets to go to genuine aviation enthusiasts. If there is a demand for more ‘scenic tour’ flights at Birmingham, we can consider these too.

We hope you will join with us in celebrating the farewell of a loyal, beautiful aircraft, but also to recognize that the time has now come for Biman to equip itself with the very latest in new aircraft and technology.

Copyright Photo: Michael Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 S2-ACQ (msn 47817) prepares to land in Singapore.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines:

Biman to lease four Boeing 777-200s

Please click on photo for full view, information and other Biman aircraft.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Dhaka) will lease two Boeing 777-200s from Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong) and two 777-200s from SIngapore Airlines (Singapore) as an interim measure. The lease will be for three years with the first delivery in either May or June 2009. This will permit the company to phase out its four old McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s. The flag carrier has four new 463-seat Boeing 777-300 ERs on order (the first is due in July 2013) as well as four 787-8 Dreamliners.