The United Kingdom (UK) and Bangladesh signed the Aviation Trade and Investment Partnership agreement, as the Asian country looks to develop its aviation industry.
“This deal demonstrates the UK’s commitment to strengthening Bangladesh’s aviation industry, in turn helping to create jobs in both countries,” said Dominic Johnson, the Minister of State at the UK Department of Business and Trade (DBT), in a short statement on Twitter.
Meanwhile, according to Salman Rahman, the Private Industry and Investment Adviser to Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the agreement also included provisions for the country to buy passenger and cargo aircraft from Airbus.
“Bangladesh can also get long-term credit facilities from UK Export Finance scheme on easy terms for the purchase of aircraft from Airbus,” also read a statement from the Bangladesh High Commission in the UK.
It was not immediately clear how many aircraft the country is looking to order for its national flag carrier, namely Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Currently, the airline has 21 aircraft in its fleet, 20 of which are active, while a single Boeing 737-800 is stored, according to ch-aviation.com data.
Previous reports by the Dhaka Tribune put the number of ordered aircraft at 10, namely eight passenger and two cargo jets, without specifying the models. It is expected that Airbus and Biman Bangladesh Airlines will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the coming days, as Bangladeshi PM Hasina is currently on a visit to the UK, with the politician set to leave the country later on May 8, 2023, at the time of writing.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ other jet aircraft include five Boeing 737-800, four 777-300ER, four 787-8, and two 787-9, as well as a regional fleet of five De Havilland Canada DHC-8 Q400 aircraft.