Biman Bangladesh Airlines' announcement of bringing in one of the boldest fleet expansion plans in recent history from a national airline. The airline has already placed the biggest aircraft order of any airline in less than a year and, twice in 16 months, it has almost doubled that pledge, and the figures are indeed startling for an airline of this size.

Because the Order had Begun it all

Earlier this year, Biman Bangladesh has signed a firm agreement with Boeing for 14 more planes. Each type was selected for a specific role in the airline's expansion plans; that order was eight Boeing 787-10s, two Boeing 787-9s and four Boeing 737 MAX 8s.

• Boeing 787-10s are a brand new type of aircraft, which are reserved for routes that see a high volume of traffic between Bangladesh and the Middle East.
• 787-9s: new aircraft added to the current fleet of 787s, including some that are longer-range aircraft capable of flying to Europe and North America.
• Boeing 737 MAX 8s: also a first-time entry, to connect Bangladesh with the destinations of the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia.

That original order isn't exactly imminent, either. That's the best case scenario, and a long runway, if everything goes according to plan, which Boeing has not always been able to pull off with its recent order books.

Then Came the Second Order

Instead of taking a breath after that first order, Biman Bangladesh returned to Boeing with another 11 additions to the order book, including five more 787-10s and six more 737 MAX 8s. This second batch has not been announced to be delivered anytime soon, but logic dictates that these jets would follow the original 14, meaning that the final fleet of these jets would likely be far into 2035 before being complete.

Once you add all this up, Biman Bangladesh now has 25 Boeing aircraft on order: 13 787-10s, two 787-9s and 10 737 MAX 8s. If that's the case, then for context, the current fleet of the airline consists of just 19 aircraft – of which 14 are jets. That is, this national carrier is now ordering nearly twice the number of planes it has in service.

What does Bangladesh's Leadership say?

The expansion is part of Biman Bangladesh's ongoing fleet renewal and network expansion, which the carrier considers a well-thought-out move to meet the country's long-term connectivity requirements, said Chairman Rumee Hossain. The order comes in response to specific needs that were identified in the airline's fleet plan, and years of experience dealing with Boeing have instilled confidence in the airline with respect to timelines and continued support, Hossain said. He also framed the move as a part of the country's broader policy to further bolster its international air connectivity for business people, tourists and its huge expatriate community.

How This is Transforming Biman Bangladesh's Fleet

Biman Bangladesh operates four Boeing 737s (737-800), four Boeing 777s (777-300ER), six Boeing 787s (four 787-8s and two 787-9s) and five De Havilland Dash 8 turboprops for shorter regional routes. It's even more significant as none of the new aircraft are replacing the turboprop fleet; it's built on top of the existing widebody and narrowbody orders.

When the phase-out of the older 737-800s and 777-300ERs are fulfilled as expected, Biman Bangladesh may have a fleet of only 21 Boeing 787s by then. It's quite a big widebody-heavy fleet for an airline this size, and coupled with just 10 737 MAX aircraft currently on order for narrowbodied services. It does, however, make sense in the context of the business Biman Bangladesh normally carries out, but Biman Bangladesh's aircraft also has a lot of high volume point to point operations, especially between Bangladesh and various Middle Eastern destinations, where a widebody is more valuable than a larger narrowbody.

Often, the Clear Reasons for Skepticism Seem Irresistible

The 25-jet order may sound like a dream come true and it is, but it could certainly be an interesting puzzle to solve knowing that not all of those jets are guaranteed to be delivered at the time of the order. There are a few things to consider:

Then, there's plenty of time for the order to be shrunken, shifted, or negotiated all over again before those jets arrive in Bangladesh and, in some cases, could be delayed a decade even more.

• This is the newest in an array of orders from a larger bilateral U.S.Bangladesh trade pact, and trade-related aircraft contracts are not always followed through.
• Biman Bangladesh has previously had a patchy record of such orders: in June 2023, the airline said it had ordered 10 Airbus A350s for its long-haul fleet renewal, but that was never completed.

The airline also has a wrinkle in its plans to expand its service to North America. At present, Bangladesh is still in the process of obtaining a Category 1 rating from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and as such, Bangladeshi airlines, including Biman Bangladesh, are not allowed to fly into the United States under current regulations. The status may change as time goes on, but for now, it places a ceiling on the extent to which this expansion in fleet can be translated into new routes in North America.

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The Bottom Line

Biman Bangladesh's aircraft order book has expanded to 25 Boeing aircraft, which includes 787-10s, 787-9s and 737 MAX 8s and far outstrips the airline's current 14-jet fleet, making Bangladesh's national carrier's growth plans very real. With the Middle East-focused 787-10s and the regionally-focused 737 MAX 8s as well as the long-haul 787s, the rationale behind the order seems logical on paper. Yet, deliveries are still not scheduled to start until as late as late 2031 and past indiscipline with previous aircraft orders by Biman Bangladesh has ample grounds for caution when it comes to making full assumptions about deliveries continuing to the tarmac.