DHAKA: An inspection report by US aircraft manufacturer Boeing claims that Biman is struggling to maintain its existing fleet.
Chronic shortages of spare parts and tools are forcing Biman to keep flying with components that should have been repaired long ago, while an inadequately trained workforce is contributing to disruptions, according to the report from October 2025.
An expert sees no immediate safety concern, but the findings raise questions about Biman’s ability to support a much larger fleet.
Its challenge is not just expanding the fleet but keeping aircraft in service reliably.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has ordered 25 new Boeing aircraft this year.
The “Biman Bangladesh Airlines 777/787 Onsite Enhanced Support Close-Out Report” compares Biman’s 777 and 787 fleets with what the manufacturer describes as its global fleet standard. Boeing’s on-site maintenance team spent several months at Biman last year at the airline’s invitation, according to sources familiar with the exercise.
Of the 19 aircraft in Biman’s fleet, four are 777-300ERs, four 787-8s and two 787-9s.
Biman suffers many flight delays due to a high rate of unusual technical issues, unlike other carriers’ Boeing fleets, and it takes Biman up to three times longer than “standard” to maintain its planes, the report said.
Of the top 10 problems identified in Biman’s and the global fleets, Biman’s 777s shared only two with the global fleet -- the backup power system and the air-conditioning system’s cooling and temperature controls.
Biman’s 787s shared four: faults in a core computing unit known as the general processing module; the common motor start controller; and two different faults in motor controllers for the hydraulic spoilers, which help slow the aircraft.
Biman’s Boeing fleet issues are concentrated in complex systems, but wear-and-tear issues account for many of the service interruptions across Boeing’s global fleet.
For instance, the top driver of service interruptions for Biman’s 787s was the brake system control unit. Its breakdown rate was 14 times higher than the global fleet.
Brake-system failures do not even feature in the global fleet’s top 10.
The second-highest cause for Biman’s 787s was the spoilers, the panels on the upper surface of the wings that rise to increase drag and help the aircraft slow down.
There were two such occurrences in six months, and Boeing took corrective action in at least one case in August 2017.
The spoiler ranks ninth among the global fleet’s top 10 problems, but Biman’s breakdown rate is about five times higher.
For the global 787 fleet, the top three causes involve the general processing module, passenger seats, and in-flight entertainment units.
For Biman’s 777s, the leading cause of service interruptions was the temperature control system, which fails six or seven times more often than it does in the global fleet, where it ranks eighth.
The second-highest cause was the cargo door, where Biman experiences about 14 times as many malfunctions as the global average.
Globally, the biggest concerns for 777s are the engine air supply and passenger seats, neither of which is a major problem for Biman.
The report notes a “lack of critical spares in stock at Dhaka base for 787 and 777”.
“Limited availability of parts leaves aircraft vulnerable and adds risk to dispatch situations,” it says.
The shortage has contributed to what Boeing described as a “high minimum equipment list (MEL) count”.
The MEL specifies which components may remain inoperative while an aircraft continues to fly, so a high count means an aircraft is operating with many inoperative components awaiting maintenance.
“MEL repair interval extensions are common and vastly over-utilised,” the report says, indicating that Biman frequently defers repairs.
It recommends an “urgent need to address MEL issues without waiting for the last minute”.
The report also identified shortages of maintenance tools at Biman’s main base and outstations, along with a shortage of skilled workers.
It recommended a proper succession plan to bridge the gap between the ageing workforce and new hires, career opportunities and incentives to retain talent, more training for mechanics working on newer aircraft models, and apprentice programmes.
Poor coordination was also contributing to delays, according to the report.
The departure ramp is 20 to 40 minutes from the hangar, and engineering staff must print manuals for last-minute technical problems because they lack tablets with electronic manuals. The report said there are no airside vans and only one high-lift platform in the hangar.
Biman also has no pool agreement or labour support at international bases, so “people must be dispatched from Dhaka base” to support aircraft on the ground. Visa procedures and travel time can cause further delays, it added.
That was the case in Rome on August 7 this year, when a Biman 787 operating from Toronto to Dhaka was stuck at Fiumicino Airport because of a technical problem.
Biman had to send two engineers and replacement parts from Dhaka, and nearly 260 passengers remained stranded there for more than 40 hours.
Amina Anjum Tonni, a Dhaka-based private-sector employee who was bringing her parents back from Canada on the flight, described the ordeal. “My father has had three bypass surgeries and had no opportunity to sleep during those 40 hours. They were sleeping upright throughout. He did not have his medication with him,” she said.
On August 22 this year, a Biman flight from Dhaka to Toronto via Rome was delayed by six hours, according to the airline’s operational summary.
Over the 24 hours from August 22 to 23, Biman recorded 10 flight delays, at least two of them caused by technical issues.
A Biman internal report recorded 37 delays due to technical issues over five weeks, from July 5, 2025.
The Biman report said recurring problems included wheel replacement or loss of tyre pressure, causing more than six delays; cabin-pressure control faults, causing more than five delays; and engine-related problems, causing more than four, as well as sensor faults, spoiler actuator problems and cracked windscreens.
The report also cited several incidents.
On July 19, a Biman aircraft returned to Dhaka after developing a crack in its windscreen.
On February 28, 2025, a Dhaka-Bangkok flight was forced to return because of cabin decompression. Oxygen masks were deployed but allegedly did not work because their stated expiry date was June 2001, according to the report.
Air Commodore Mohammad Akhter Jamil, chair of avionics engineering at Aviation and Aerospace University Bangladesh, said the spare-parts shortage could be costly for the airline.
“When a plane is brought in for maintenance, and there are no spare parts, the engineer may refuse to sign it off as fit to fly. It would have to be taken out of the rotation, which would throw off the entire schedule,” he said.
The shortage could point to two possibilities, Jamil said, adding, “Either procurement is not being done on time, or parts are being consumed at a very high rate because of more frequent technical problems.”
The Daily Star contacted Biman’s managing director and CEO multiple times over two weeks but had not received a response as of yesterday's filing.
The Daily Star also sent questions to the MD’s office through Biman’s public relations officer.
Asked whether Biman had acted on any of Boeing’s recommendations in the year since the report was prepared, a Biman official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it had not.
