Bleeding Biman to keep flying loss-making Frankfurt

The government has no plans to ask struggling Biman Bangladesh Airlines to stop flying Frankfurt despite the route making losses in the four months since its launch.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon told bdnews24.com there was no possibility that this route will be shut down at the moment.

“Instead, we are trying to find a way to make it profitable."

He said they were also considering whether it would be profitable to connect the route with Bangkok.

The national carrier had resumed its Frankfurt flights, after a gap of seven years, on March 31 this year as part of its effort to post profits.

File Photo

Currently, there are two weekly flights on the route, which remained suspended since 2006 due to financial losses and a serious shortage of aircraft.

Officials said after the flights resumed, Biman counted Tk 7 million in losses every week on this route. At that rate, the total loss in the last 21 weeks is Tk 140.7 million.

A top-level official, asking to not be named, told bdnews24.com that the route was a disaster.

"The route is under observation until September following Biman board's decision. Then they will decide its fate."

Apart from Bangkok, Biman is also considering adding Kathmandu and Kolkata to this route, the official said.

According to him, “It’s possible to generate some traffic from those places”.

But former Biman board member and aviation expert Kazi Wahedul Alam thinks this route should be closed down immediately to stop losing money.

"Biman did not conduct market study before opening the four routes it started in the last nine months. And this is the result of that.

“The taxpayer’s money is going to waste for not considering the consequences," he said.

He thought steps should be taken against those who were making such decisions.

Apart from the Frankfurt flights, Biman had relaunched Yangon, Delhi and Hong Kong routes in tge past nine months.

They have already decided to cut down regular flights and temporarily suspend the Delhi and Hong Kong routes to tackle the traffic of passengers during this year's Hajj.