Two Airbus 310-300 aircraft of Bangladesh Biman to be sold in Dholaikhal as scrap. In the wake of spending a fortune on keeping up two grounded airplanes, Biman Bangladesh Airlines is currently compelled to offer them for scraps after no one communicated with interest for getting them entirety.
The two Airbus 310-300 aircraft bought at Tk250cr each could be sold at one-tenth of their buying price after local buyers dismantle them up and take them to Dholaikhal for scraps.
After lease on those aircraft expired, these 2 planes were bought in 1990 by Bangladesh Biman. Afterward, Biman added two more Airbus 310s to the fleet.
The Biman Bangladesh A300-310 had a ruptured front tire which led to its nose crashing into the runway during take-off in 2007 at Dubai airport
Airbus had ceased the manufacturing of the 310 series in 1998 because of its fuel inefficiency and expensive spare parts. It had been in production for 25 years after its initiation in 1983.
Utilizing the fuel-swallowing Airbus air ships has been out and out a bad dream for Biman. In 2007, one of the 310s neglected to take off from Dubai air terminal and collided with the runway nose-first. Though no setbacks were accounted for.
Another Biman Airbus failed to take off from Changi airport in Singapore and spent two months there racking up sky-high bills. In January 2014, a severe crack was found on the body of the third Biman Airbus.
Rearing these grounded jets has been baffling and now, embarrassing for Biman, to say the least. The embarrassment is sevenfold as Biman has not been able to find any buyer who would buy the aircraft intact.
Air Marshal Enamul Bari (retd), chairman of the board of directors of Biman, said: “We do not have any other option but to phase out the two aircraft because of their derelict condition and high fuel consumption.”
Biman sources claimed the parties interested in buying the aircrafts want to rip the planes apart and then take them to Dholaikhal – notorious for its reverse engineering facilities – a deal which Biman agreed to out of desperation.
But Biman officials have said that the aircrafts will be disassembled and sold part by part because the gates of Shahjalal Int’l Airport is too small for the aircraft to be hauled out.
According to media reports, Biman’s past venture in selling off old aircraft have been less than stellar. A DC-10 aircraft bought at Tk300cr was sold for slightly more than Tk 2 cr.
