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Biman Bangladesh Airlines added Thursday its fifth Boeing 737-800 aircraft to its fleet under a dry lease agreement for six years.
The national flag carrier brought the aircraft from Kuwait-based leasing company Alfaco.
The aircraft arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at around 3:25 am, Biman's spokesperson Shakil Meraj said.
Biman will add another Boeing 737-800 aircraft to its fleet from the same company next month, he added.
With Thursday's addition, Biman fleet plane number has reached to 14 with four Boeing 777-300 ERs, two Boeing 787s, two Boeing 737-800 ERs of its own, while three Boeing 737-800 ERs and three Dash-8s are on lease.
Currently, Biman operates on 16 international and all domestic routes. It carried 2.6 million (26 lakh) passengers during the last fiscal year. Recently, Biman resumed its Dhaka-Delhi direct flight and it is set to operate Dhaka-Guangzhou-Dhaka flight from July next.
Biman was supposed to collect two Boeing 737 NGs from Alafco under a dry lease agreement to operate flights on Guangzhou route.
The two aircraft were used by Okay Airlines of China which is now a bankrupt company. The Chinese airliner flied the aircraft for eight years.
The aircraft were expected to reach Dhaka in December last year. But the arrival of the first aircraft was deferred to second week of May this year.
Biman sources said these two Boeing 737 aircraft were manufactured in 2010.