Is the resumption of Dhaka-NY flight a headache for Biman?

Flight Engineer Abdullah Mohibuddin (Retd)

AFTER Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned from her recent visit to New York, Engr. Mosharaf Hossain, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Civil Aviation & Tourism Ministry, informed the media that the Bangladeshis living in New York and North America had for long been hoping re-opening of Biman's Dhaka-New York route. He announced that New York flights would resume by November 24 of this year.

This announcement was backed by Biman's Chairman and its Managing Director who also told the media that Biman would resume New York flights from November 24 onward. Furthermore it was then mentioned that the flight route would be Dhaka-Manchester-New York (John F Kennedy Airport) and vice versa. Initially there will be one flight per week, being operated by using a Boeing 777 aircraft.

Now, it will be interesting to see how much ground work Biman has done in this respect.

The following are the requirements that an Airline has to have for opening a new flight route:

1) Modern generation, fuel efficient and reliable aircraft;

2) Traffic rights/clearance to transport passengers on the planned route without any issues;

3) FAA clearance to land at JFK Airport;

4) Effective marketing strategy in order to attract potential passengers;

5) Use of technology for ticket sales and booking purposes (through the Internet and revamping Biman's website);

6) Ensuring full safety for passengers and crew; and

7) Keeping clear cut goals; Can the Airline stand to make a profit with this route? If not, do intrinsic values such as creating an indirect bridging between Bangladesh and USA make this route feasible for the Airline?

Biman has signed an aircraft leasing deal recently for two B777-200 ER aircraft, but Biman is not sure about the exact date of arrival of the two aircrafts. Therefore, during the stopgap, BIMAN has suggested operating this route by B767-300 ER aircraft. Two B777-200 ER aircraft will be on wet-lease for a year and then put on dry lease. Biman flight crew and maintenance team will take over then. As we understand, the dry lease of each B777 aircraft per month will cost US$ 600,000.

Let us do a preliminary calculation to determine revenue and costs. Aircraft dry lease cost per block hour will be US$2000. Add to this maintenance cost, crew cost (Flt & cabin), fuel cost, navigation cost, airport landing and handling costs, then it will be then around US$I 1,000 per block hour (BH). The B777-200 aircraft has the seating capacity of 440 passengers, but B777-200 ER has 325 passengers with two class configurations. The total flying time between DAC-MAN-JFK & return will be 35 block hours or less. The total operating cost will be (35x$ 11000) $385,000.

If the return fare between DAC-JFK-DAC is fixed at $1500 per passenger (normally every airline is charging this fare, in addition to a strict baggage rule), then total earnings will be (325 x $1500) = $487,500. The gross profit will be $102,500 per trip excluding cargo and excess baggage revenue. The break-even point will be 257 passenger or 79% .

There is no doubt that this is a good choice by Biman for selecting B777 aircrafts to travel this route. But BIMAN has not yet started to sell tickets for the Dhaka-New York route. If any one visits the website of BIMAN-Bangladesh Airlines, one does not get much information other than an overview of the company and Biman's board members etc. A passenger wants to know Biman's flight schedule (normally they are out dated) and no one seems to show any interest in amending it. There are no facilities for ticket booking through the Internet. Internet booking is a necessity now, starting from air tickets to hotel rooms to guided tours and vacations -- everything is done through the internet. Biman stands to save a lot on overhead if they introduce this system.

Also, operating the aircraft over the Atlantic to New York is exciting, particularly for the flight crew. They have to go through a special training, known as North Atlantic clearance where they learn about flying in formations, in situations where one can find another aircraft just 1000 feet above or below another one.

Biman should not delay action to operate its flight on this route anymore and should make a sincere attempt to restart flights by this December. It can be executed perfectly, provided Biman does its proper homework. Biman should not make any decision based on comments from the public. Exact date for flight operation to New York has to be announced; the flight schedule has to be fixed and ticket sales, started soon.

Had Biman operated New York flights using B747-300 aircrafts rather than DC-10s, the company would not have incurred the previous loss. By operating flights using B777 aircrafts, Biman stands to make a profit. If Biman cannot implement this successfully, then the company has itself to blame. There are over 250,000 Bangladeshis living in the USA and more 50,000 Bangladeshis living in Toronto, Canada who would enthusiastically welcome the re-opening of this route.

The writer is a former president of Flight Engineers and Navigators Association