Third Dash-8 aircraft ‘Shwetbalaka’ arrives in Dhaka

[Black_cats]

Third Dash-8 aircraft ‘Shwetbalaka’ arrives in Dhaka

Published: March 05, 2021 21:11:15 | Updated: March 05, 2021 21:24:10

The third Dash-8 aircraft purchased from Canada arrived in Dhaka on Friday afternoon.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina named the new aircraft as “Shwetbalaka”, said a press release of the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry.

The first Dash-8 aircraft out of three, purchased on a Government-to-Government basis from Canada, was added to the Biman’s fleet on December 27, 2020, while second one arrived in the country on February 24, 2021.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali received the Dash-8 model aircraft, manufactured by Canadian aircraft manufacturer De Havilland, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, reports BSS.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md Mokammel Hossain, Chairman of Biman Board of Directors Sajjadul Hasan, Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, and Managing Director & CEO of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Dr Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal were, among others, present.

Immediately after receiving the aircraft, Mahbub Ali said he is very delighted as the third Dash-8 aircraft reached home before the 100th birth day of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

He said it is expected that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would formally inaugurate the two new aircraft – “Akash Tori” and “Shwetbalaka”.

Third Dash-8 aircraft ‘Shwetbalaka’ arrives in Dhaka

The third Dash-8 aircraft purchased from Canada arrived in Dhaka on Friday afternoon. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina named the new aircraft as “Shwetbalaka”, said a press release of the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry. The first Dash-8 aircraft out of three, purchased on a Governmen

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=450174246416276

 

[Black_cats]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=264875791812156

 

[Bilal9]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=264875791812156

Well whaddya know?

I was right.

They are actually planning to use this on the Dhaka-Chennai route (1000 km?).

They equipped this and the other two new Dash-8's will HEPA filters for filtering out COVID virus but don't know if that actually works.

With this new one, the fleet size of Biman now stands at 21 (16 owned and 5 leased). Other than leased aircraft, Biman's fleet age now is probably the youngest in SE Asia with brand new types, certainly so in the subcontinent.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Well whaddya know?

I was right.

They are actually planning to use this on the Dhaka-Chennai route (1000 km?).

They equipped this and the other two new Dash-8's will HEPA filters for filtering out COVID virus but don't know if that actually works.

With this new one, the fleet size of Biman now stands at 21 (16 owned and 5 leased). Other than leased aircraft, Biman's fleet age now is probably the youngest in SE Asia with brand new types, certainly so in the subcontinent.

It is the youngest I am 99% sure. If we exclude a situation where a very small private Airlines(most probably Indian) which brought brand new 1 or 2 aircraft recently to satrt their business, then of course Biman has the youngest fleet. Among the 16 aircraft it own, oldest are 2 B777-300ER 9 years old, 2 same plane are 7 years old. Rest are less than 5 years old. In the last 2 and half years, Biman purchased 9 brand new aircraft. Six Dreamliners and three Dash-8. The remaining five dry leased(three 737-800 and two Dash-8) aircraft are also in the range of 5-10 years old.

Most importantly, Biman management now seems to eager to take the service quality seriously . They are organizing seminar with passengers to know about their complaints and announced that, from now on, Biman aircraft will not delay even a minute for any VIP. Let's see how much they stick to their promise.

 

[Bilal9]

It is the youngest I am 99% sure. If we exclude a situation where a very small private Airlines(most probably Indian) which brought brand new 1 or 2 aircraft recently to satrt their business, then of course Biman has the youngest fleet. Among the 16 aircraft it own, oldest are 2 B777-300ER 9 years old, 2 same plane are 7 years old. Rest are less than 5 years old. In the last 2 and half years, Biman purchased 9 brand new aircraft. Six Dreamliners and three Dash-8. The remaining five dry leased(three 737-800 and two Dash-8) aircraft are also in the range of 5-10 years old.

Most importantly, Biman management now seems to eager to take the service quality seriously . They are organizing seminar with passengers to know about their complaints and announced that, from now on, Biman aircraft will not delay even a minute for any VIP. Let's see how much they stick to their promise.

Well good to know Biman is getting serious.

Their equipment is quite good, now all they have to do is improve their service standards.

They should hire consultants to improve ground handling. As you know, Japanese company (I forgot the name) is eager to take on the ground operations at Dhaka Airport (ticketing, luggage handling, aircraft logistics and traffic operations).

Cabin crew training wise, they should hire whomever trains SQ for raising their standards and hire more young people. I believe Sri Lankan cabin crew gets trained at SQ HQ in S'pore.

 

[Michael Corleone]

What balaka now? What does it even mean

Well good to know Biman is getting serious.

Their equipment is quite good, now all they have to do is improve their service standards.

They should hire consultants to improve ground handling. As you know, Japanese company (I forgot the name) is eager to take on the ground operations at Dhaka Airport (ticketing, luggage handling, aircraft logistics and traffic operations).

Cabin crew training wise, they should hire whomever trains SQ for raising their standards and hire more young people. I believe Sri Lankan cabin crew gets trained at SQ HQ in S'pore.

Looks like they’re trying to emulate premium economy market products like in emirates.
although new emirates economy products are business class products in other airlines

 

[Michael Corleone]

It is the youngest I am 99% sure. If we exclude a situation where a very small private Airlines(most probably Indian) which brought brand new 1 or 2 aircraft recently to satrt their business, then of course Biman has the youngest fleet. Among the 16 aircraft it own, oldest are 2 B777-300ER 9 years old, 2 same plane are 7 years old. Rest are less than 5 years old. In the last 2 and half years, Biman purchased 9 brand new aircraft. Six Dreamliners and three Dash-8. The remaining five dry leased(three 737-800 and two Dash-8) aircraft are also in the range of 5-10 years old.

Most importantly, Biman management now seems to eager to take the service quality seriously . They are organizing seminar with passengers to know about their complaints and announced that, from now on, Biman aircraft will not delay even a minute for any VIP. Let's see how much they stick to their promise.

The guy who said taal banana cracked me up

 

[Shorisrip]

What balaka now? What does it even mean

Means a crane (as in the bird) iirc, pretty archaic name though lol.

 

[Michael Corleone]

Means a crane (as in the bird) iirc, pretty archaic name though lol.

But what’s sheut

 

[Bilal9]

What balaka now? What does it even mean

Looks like they’re trying to emulate premium economy market products like in emirates.
although new emirates economy products are business class products in other airlines

To answer your query - "Shwet" means white in Bengali and "Balaka" in Bengali means Crane, Egret or Heron I believe (any waterfowl in Bangladesh with a gracious curved neck).

Biman should stick to LCC (Low Cost Carrier) operations but include food and amenities which other LCC carriers like Air-Asia don't (that should be their differentiating factor). In a three hour flight, no Bangladeshi is going to be happy if you throw a bag of peanuts and a can of soda-pop at them.

They should study other Asian LCC carriers and emulate their practices - but not take away food/amenities.

Biman needs to fill their seats and raise their occupancy ratio on flights. Right now - paying customers (any kind) will save their airline.

No plane makes money sitting on the tarmac.

But what’s sheut

Answered above.

Means a crane (as in the bird) iirc, pretty archaic name though lol.

It's not that archaic, just proper 'Bhadralok' Bengali.

Although you would not use it in casual talk, just in poetry and such.

 

[Michael Corleone]

To answer your query - "Shwet" means white in Bengali and "Balaka" in Bengali means Crane, Egret or Heron I believe (any waterfowl in Bangladesh with a gracious curved neck).

Biman should stick to LCC (Low Cost Carrier) operations but include food and amenities which other LCC carriers like Air-Asia don't (that should be their differentiating factor). In a three hour flight, no Bangladeshi is going to be happy if you throw a bag of peanuts and a can of soda-pop at them.

They should study other Asian LCC carriers and emulate their practices - but not take away food/amenities.

Biman needs to fill their seats and raise their occupancy ratio on flights. Right now - paying customers (any kind) will save their airline.

No plane makes money sitting on the tarmac.



Answered above.


It's not that archaic, just proper 'Bhadralok' Bengali.

Although you would not use it in casual talk, just in poetry and such.

Then it makes no sense for BIMAN to get more wide body aircrafts. Since they’re opting for long range route, I’m skeptical if a LCC operation would succeed

 

[DalalErMaNodi]

The guy who said taal banana cracked me up

He said 'Taal Bahana'... Man gets Mic and starts spitting out informal lingo... Savage.

 

[Michael Corleone]

He said 'Taal Bahana'... Man gets Mic and starts spitting out informal lingo... Savage.

Slangmaster 9000

 

[bluesky]

But what’s sheut

ShwetBalaka (শ্বেতবলাকা) means a White Crane, (a bird).

 

[Bilal9]

Then it makes no sense for BIMAN to get more wide body aircrafts. Since they’re opting for long range route, I’m skeptical if a LCC operation would succeed

They should still keep the existing widebodies (777-300, 787) but yes no use getting more.

They can of course get more 737's on lease, but I prefer newer regional platforms like A220's and E195-E2's (fuel consumption is magnitudes lower than 737's and A320's). Part of LCC strategy is of course lower fuel consumption per seat-mile.

They really need to do their homework on cost cutting if they have to go the LCC route. Like I said, they need to emulate Air Asia, the largest LCC in Asia (240 aircraft in the fleet, mostly narrow-body like you said).
But Biman could do one better by leasing A220's and E195-E2's. The only thing is that they cannot allow any baggage pieces per passenger, just one carry on per passenger. These things have a lot lower baggage hold space than 737's.

A220

E195-E2

Some possible avenues might be, (of course) by trying cutting fares to the bone for a while to see if it fills seats and raises occupancy rates.

But the Bangladeshi penchant for two luggage pieces per passenger will be a huge problem. And you can't charge Bangladeshi people for those extra luggage pieces either.