Biman Bangladesh Airlines (
Bengali:
বিমান বাংলাদেশ এয়ারলাইনস) is the
national airline of
Bangladesh, based at
Zia International Airport in
Dhaka. It provides domestic as well as international service to Asia and Europe, but derives most of its revenue from flights to
Osmani International Airport,
Sylhet. It has
Air Services Agreements with 42 countries, although it maintains flights to only 18. Until July 2007, the airlines was owned by the
Government of Bangladesh; on
23 July 2007, it was transformed into Bangladesh's largest
Public Limited Company by the then
caretaker government of the country. Created in February 1972, Biman operated an internal
monopoly in Bangladesh until 1996. Dogged by corruption and accidents, the airline suffers from an ageing fleet, with some of its long-haul aircraft banned for safety reasons from the
US and
EU member states. Annual
Hajj flights, labour migrants as well as Biman's subsidiaries, form an important part of the ailing carrier's business. Biman has a 2 star ranking out of 5 by
Skytrax, a
United Kingdom-based consultancy.
