Dhaka based Biman Bangladesh Airlines could be looking to buy four 787-9 that were originally intended for Indian full-service carrier Vistara.

Back in 2018, Vistara ordered six 787-9s from Boeing together with an option to purchase four more.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines' fourth Boeing 787-8 S2-AJU Dreamliner
Biman could buy four 787-9s that were for Vistara. Photo: Biman

Of the six aircraft on order, one of which is nearing completion at the Boeing factory in Everett, all were configured to carry 299 passengers with no crew sleeping quarters.

For some of the flights, Vistara would need crew sleeping quarters

For flights of long durations that Vistara wants to operate to places like New York and Sydney, extra pilots would be needed. This is perhaps why they have changed their mind with this order.

Biman Bangladesh, on the other hand, could fly the aircraft to New York and Toronto using a stopover on their new flights to Manchester in the north of England.

Bangladeshi business newspaper The Business Standard is reporting that Biman Bangladesh is in the process of purchasing as many as four new 787-9s from Boeing as a part of its fleet expansion.

Boeing has offered the Vistara planes to Biman

The plan to take the four Dreamliners and two Dash-8s was formulated after Vistara failed to make a payment on the aircraft they had ordered. Now well into the manufacturing process, Boeing offered the aircraft to Biman Bangladesh.

While still not a done deal, the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (DAC) based airline is open to the idea, so long as they can secure the aircraft for a favorable price.

In October of 2019, Biman Bangladesh managed to pick up two Boeing 787-9s from the Seattle planemaker at a very lucrative price. This was after China’s Hainan Airlines canceled its order due to financial difficulties.

Biman-Boeing-787-8
Reports say Vistara does not want the 787s. Photo: Biman

The two aircraft were seamlessly incorporated into the Biman Bangladesh Airlines fleet taking their tally of 787s to six planes.

While nowhere near being a big player in the Asian aviation scene, Biman Bangladesh has seen its fleet of aircraft expand quite rapidly. It has also improved what was once one of the worst on-time performances in the industry.

Biman Bangladesh has returned to Manchester

At the moment, Biman Bangladesh flies to 16 international destinations. On January 5th, it inaugurated its new Dreamliner route between Dhaka and the eastern Bangladeshi city of Sylhet and Manchester.

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Biman could fly to New York and Toronto with a stopover in Manchester. Photo: Biman

The three weekly flights between the UK and Bangladesh will be a big boost for the 70,000 strong Bangladeshi community that lives within the Manchester Airport catchment area.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines also has plans to start flying to Chennai, Colombo, Male, Tokyo, Toronto, New York, and Guangzhou, according to the Business Standard.

While these new destinations could lead to Biman Bangladesh Airlines taking Vistara’s order for the Boeing 787-9s, we will have to wait and see if it is indeed a done deal.