DHAKA, – Water cannons spouted as the wheels of Biman Bangladesh Airlines fourth brand new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner named as ‘Rajhangsha’ touched the taxiway of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here this afternoon.
“The 4th Dreamliner, last in the row, landed at HISA directly from the USA’s Seattle’s Boeing Factory at 4.39 pm,” Biman’s Manager (PR) Tasmin Akhtar told BSS.
Biman’s acting Managing Director and CEO Captain Farhat Hasan Jamil along with other high officials received the Dreamliner at the airport after welcoming it by a water cannon salute as the 16th aircraft to the national flag carrier, she said.
It is expected that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who named all the Dreamliners, will inaugurate the 4th Boeing 787-8 at 4.00 pm on Tuesday next, Akhtar said.
A Bangladesh delegation, comprising officials of Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) and Biman Bangladesh Airlines, led by Biman’s board chairman Air Marshal (retd.) Muhammad Enamul Bari received the aircraft from the Boeing Company in Seattle yesterday.
Four pilots of Biman led by its Chief of Flight Safety Captain Shoeb Chowdhury operated the new aircraft on boarding the delegation from Seattle to Dhaka.
Earlier, the first and second Dreamliner Boeing 787-8, named as Akash Beena and Hangsabalaka respectively, arrived here on August and December last year while the third one known as Gaangchil arrived in July last.
In 2008, Biman Bangladesh Airlines signed a US$2.1 billion agreement with Boeing to purchase 10 new aircrafts.
Of those, Boeing has already delivered four 777-300ER’s and two 737-800’s and three Dreamliners to Biman.
Rajhangsha, the 271-seat Boeing 787-8, has been designed as 20 percent fuel efficient carrier compared to the other aircrafts. The airliner has the capacity to fly 16 hours nonstop with an average speed of 650 miles per hour.
It will provide its passengers with Wi-Fi services at a height of 43,000 feet, allowing passengers to browse the internet or connect with their friends and family from any place of the world.
