First Dash 8-400 aircraft to join Biman fleet Tuesday

[The Ronin]

https://www.facebook.com/BDAviationHub/posts/3490808070967694

A brand new Dash 8-400 aircraft is expected to join Biman Bangladesh Airlines on Tuesday.

This will mark the delivery of the first of three aircraft bought from aircraft manufacturing company De Havilland Canada.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has named the latest edition to the national flag carrier’s fleet “Dhurbatara,” said a press release issued on Sunday.

“The addition of three Dash 8-400 aircraft to the fleet will increase Biman’s flight frequency on domestic and short-haul international routes. The new Dash 8-400 aircraft - built by De Haviland Canada - is equipped with eco-friendly and state-of-the-art facilities.

“The 74-seat aircraft is equipped with HEPA filter technology that completely purifies the air inside an aircraft by destroying bacteria, viruses, and other germs in just 4 minutes,” read the release.

The inclusion of the Dash 8-400 will take the total number of aircraft in Biman’s fleet to 19.

New Dash 8-400 aircraft to join Biman fleet Tuesday

www.dhakatribune.com

 

[DalalErMaNodi]

 

[Black_cats]

Dash 8-400 joins Biman fleet Tuesday

AVIATION
TBS Report
22 November, 2020, 06:45 pm
Last modified: 22 November, 2020, 09:02 pm


Biman is increasing its fleet while the national carrier is already incurring huge losses in the wake of the pandemic

While international airlines are cutting down the sizes of their fleets to recoup losses in the wake of the pandemic, Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to increase the size of its fleet.

A brand new aircraft Dash 8-400 will join the fleet of Biman on 24 November. De Havilland Canada is the manufacturer of the aircraft.

Biman is expanding its fleet at a time when the national carrier is already in trouble, having incurred huge losses since it failed to keep up flight operations due to the general holidays.

The new 74-seater small aircraft, which was ordered in 2018, will fly the regional routes, said Md Mokabbir Hossain, managing director of Biman.

He said the plane was supposed to be delivered in March this year but was delayed due to the pandemic.

Biman will be compensated for the delay in delivery.

Mokabbir said the small aircraft will operate on the Dhaka-Delhi route which will make flying cheap. Currently, a long-haul aircraft 737 operates on this route – which is costly for the carrier.

"When small-haul aircraft fly the short distance, it will save fuel and other costs," he added.
Moreover, Biman has plans to expand its operations on domestic routes as two more Dash-8 aircraft will join the fleet in February and March next year.

Currently, Biman has only two small-haul aircraft for domestic operations out of its total 18 aircraft.

Both of the two were taken on lease, but one of them was purchased in July from the lessor. Another one is still on lease.

The new inclusion of Dash 8-400 will take the number of the total fleet to 19, according to Biman.

Last year, three new Dreamliners joined the Biman fleet.

The national carrier is still operating long-haul aircraft on domestic routes due to a lack of enough small-haul planes.

As a result, Biman had long been absorbing losses from its operation. This has discouraged the authorities from increasing the number of domestic flights.

Though the number of passengers is still low even after reopening on 1 June, Biman is expanding its flights on domestic routes, gradually.

On 12 November, Biman introduced flights on the Sylhet-Cox's Bazar route.

Dash 8-400 joins Biman fleet Tuesday

Biman is increasing its fleet while the national carrier is already incurring huge losses in the wake of the pandemic

tbsnews.net

 

[mb444]

Biman needs to take a long view. BD has enough demand to take on many more planes and it should now that jets can be gotten really cheap.

Foreign airlines have the major share in BD that represents loss to the nation and this trend should be reversed.

C19 downturn will end and Biman should see this as an opportunity to expand on the cheap and plan to modernise and upscale for the future.

 

[Bilal9]

Biman needs to take a long view. BD has enough demand to take on many more planes and it should now that jets can be gotten really cheap.

Foreign airlines have the major share in BD that represents loss to the nation and this trend should be reversed.

C19 downturn will end and Biman should see this as an opportunity to expand on the cheap and plan to modernise and upscale for the future.

I don't agree with the Biman guy about the Q400 economy for that DAC-DEL leg - his logic doesn't make sense to me.

I'd really like to see what Biman's seat-mile costs are on DAC-DEL leg for Dash-8 Q400 vs. B737-800. I know they'd be low but how low? DAC-DEL is really stretching it for a Q400. I mean that is a long turboprop leg for thin routes but DAC-DEL leg is anything but thin. And the leg range is above the 300 mile threshold (also the altitude above 25k ft. threshold) where the 738 starts beating the two/three Q400s for economy.


738 advantages:

• 738 only gets a significant advantage once it gets up high (above 25k ft). On really short hops, that never happens. It's not going much faster than the Q400 down low.
• You fill up 189 passengers with one slot in DAC, instead of two/three slots with as many Q400's.
• Some people like jets and hate Turboprops (less of an issue with Q400 technology) - but NVH issues for a lower flying turboprop will always be a factor, especially in less than perfect South Asian weather.
• If Biman has steady demand that consistently fills up a 738, and Biman customers don't care about only have one flight a day, then use the 738.

Q400 advantages:

• Fuel economy on short routes is much higher that 738 (e.g. DAC-SYL, SYL-CXB, DAC-CXB and DAC-CTG)
• Greater flexibility for the consumer as far as departure times
• Can possibly operate new routes like CTG-DEL or DAC-HYD (Hyderabad). Q400 has 1296 NM range and can operate to/from very small airports, unlike 738s. DAC-DEL is 886 miles, DAC-HYD is 884 miles.
• If BIman's seat demand for this leg fluctuates (unlikely), or Biman wants to protect itself from a maintenance cancellation, running two/three Q400 flights is better. This is also true if Biman wants to offer schedule flexibility, which is a huge factor.
• And like I said above the Q400 leaves the window wide open for exploring new markets with short runways, whether in Bangladesh, or regionally.

STATS:

737-800

Typical cruising speed Mach 0.785. Max certificated altitude 41,000ft.

737-800 - Standard range with 162 passengers 3585km (1990nm) or 5445km (2940nm) for high gross weight version.

737-800 - Operating empty 41,145kg (90,710lb), max takeoff 70,535kg (155,500lb), high gross weight max takeoff 79,015kg (174,200lb).

737-800 - Wing span 34.31m (112ft 7in), length 39.47m (129ft 6in), height 12.55m (41ft 2in). Wing area 125.0m2 (1344sq ft.)

Flight crew of two.

737-800 - Typical two class seating for 162 with 12 first class passengers at four abreast and 91cm (36in) pitch and 150 economy class at six abreast and 81cm (32in) pitch. Max single class seating for 189 at 76cm (30in) pitch.

Bombardier Q400

Two 3410kW (4573shp) takeoff rated Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A turboprops driving six blade Dowty propellers.

Max cruising speed at 95% power and max takeoff weight 648km/h (350kt). Max certificated ceiling 25,000ft, or optionally 27,000ft. Max range with 70 passengers and reserves 2400km (1296nm).

Operating empty 16,580kg (36,520lb), max takeoff 27,330kg (60,198lb) or high gross weight 28,690kg (63,250lb).

Wing span 28.42m (93ft 3in), length 32.84m (107ft 9in), height 8.38m (27ft 5in). Wing area 63.1m2 (679.0sq ft.)

Flight crew of two. Can seat 70 passengers at 79cm (31in) pitch or 78 at 76cm (30in) pitch in a single class arrangement.