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Biman Bangladesh review - by Kurt Müller

1 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

CCU-DAC-CCU. My flight to Dhaka was scheduled for 1930 hrs, and since I was connecting from an Indian domestic flight, I had arrived at Calcutta Airport at noon time. Sitting in the lobby of the international terminal, I received a phone call from Biman informing me the flight would be delayed until 2230 (although the departure information board right above me was still showing "Scheduled"). To their credit, BG offered free dinner. We finally departed 2330, i.e. 4 hours late. Can't understand why an airline whose main base is only 40 minutes flying time away cannot rearrange its planes to avoid a 4-hour delay. Returning four days later, flight was on time, but check-in was extremely slow due to repeated incursions by uniformed staff holding bundles of tickets and passports of pax who were not in the queue. When I finally complained, the staff member in question told me that he was actually checking in himself "as crew" and therefore had priority. Further questions revealed that he was not operating crew and simply felt that paying passengers come last in the scheme of things. BG have a lot of customer service training to do.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Jamal Munshi

1 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Business class from DAC to BKK. The check-in counter was a zoo and there was no provision for separate check-in for business class. The lounge was filthy, and they offered only water and soda pop. There was no food. Alcoholic beverages are not offered as a matter of policy. The flight was comfortable, wine and beer are served for an additional fee - payable in US dollars. Exact change is required.

Biman Bangladesh review - by David Lawson

1 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Absolutely abysmal airline. They ask passengers to bear with them as they are an "emerging airline / from a developing nation" and hope that that comment makes us feel sorry for them and allows us to understand and condone their absolutely shocking service, food, plane. Left Heathrow 7 hours late for a trip to Bangkok with a plane change in Dhaka, the plane that was supposed to be in Dhaka was still in New York and the plane I was on was going back to Heathrow. Stranded in Dhaka.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Rahena Anisha

25 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

I was travelling with my three children aged 20 months, 3 years old, an 8 year old and my mother from Heathrow. My flight was for 3pm but was delayed until 9pm. My return flight from Shylet was for 10.40am and was then delayed to 3.00pm. Once we arrived in Dhaka the flight was for 2.00am but then delayed again for the following morning but there was no time given. This carried on for the next 5days. No information was given throughout these days and I was running out of money, as I had two children on nappies, I did not have enough clothes or enough nappies. I asked for nappies and they supplied me with 6 pieces of nappies after 8hrs.Two of my children were due back for school and as a result of this they both missed 1 week of school. My family and I were put up in the Imperial Hotel International for five days with no explanation as to what was happening. We were only told that a connecting flight would be available the next day. This went on for five days. I always made contact with the people who was in connection with those in charge as we was left in a situation not knowing when where going to get our flight. We then was put on a flight on the 5th day with the airline Air India to the Uk. We were given no financial or practical assistance or information from Biman Bangladesh as to what was happening and were left stranded with a young family for five days in a strange city. The situation would have been extremely stressful for anyone in my position however for my mother and me it was even more so as she suffers from high blood pressure and I am epileptic.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Shupriya Iqbal

1 March 2007

London -Dhaka-Sylhet recently. When we arrived at LHR it took over two ours to check in due to long queues. We were then told our flight was delayed but not told the reason for the delay or how long we would have to wait. Our flight ended up being delayed for 12 hours and it was a complete nightmare in the airport with two boys running around all over the place. After this ordeal we boarded the aircraft at midnight. I was appalled by the poor service dished out by Biman cabin crew. They were curt and less then helpful when I asked them for anything ,and avoided making eye contact. They made no effort whatsoever to make us comfortable. On the way back the journey was no better. Although we had prebooked to arrive by the last flight from Sylhet to Dhaka so the transit time before we boarded the plane for London would be shorter, we were made to take the first flight to Dhaka when the tickets were reconfirmed. When we arrived in Dhaka it took over two hours of immigration checks and queues before we were taken to a hotel. Staff in Dhaka airport were completely oblivious to the needs of parents with young children. I had to stand in ceremony in front of countless officials who made us wait obscene lengths of time before they even noticed us. We were finally taken to a Hotel - it must have been one of the worst Hotels in Bangladesh. The four of us were ushered into a dark and dirty room with no windows or natural day light. The furniture was shoddy and falling apart, carpet was stained, blanket on the bed was filthy. On the flight back the service from the cabin crew was no better. By then I ceased to be appalled by anything because it is the norm with Biman Bangladesh airlines.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Samina Nessa

22 January 2007

I recently flew with Biman accompanied by my 20-month old son, from London to Dhaka to Sylhet. There was delays when boarding, delays at Dhaka even though my flight was a direct one from London to Sylhet. During the night I was ignored by crew members despite my repeated requests for a blanket for my child. I eventually had to cover him with part of my sari to keep him warm. The toilets were filthy, mother- &-baby changing facilities could not be found anywhere on the plane despite their notice being hung on a so-called baby-changing room. The crew were unhelpful and rude. At check-in in London I was told by a Biman representative to pay a 'reward' for the baggage handler to ignore my so-called overloaded baggage - which was NOT above the allowed weight! The food and service provided on board was shoddy to say the least. The plane was falling to bits, seats and food trays did not stay where they were meant to, a child seat belt had to be requested repeatedly by myself, as crew members did not bother to check whether passengers had belted up. On the return journey I did not even bother asking for one - the hassle was too much. The most horrendous thing about Biman is that there is a serious lack of responsibility for passenger safety by crew members. This is quite frightening when travelling with young children. The return journey was very disorganised as we were required to reconfirm already confirmed tickets, and once were contacted by their office to say the flight was delayed and to collect a new boarding pass which we had to pay for with our funds.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Giles Wynne

30 July 2006

Business class BKK to LHR 39000bht or £550.Promotion offer! BKK Business class lounge fair to good. All types of alcoholic drinks and good snacks. A310 Bkk to DAC comfortable and good food considering old aircraft and limited staff. Beer and red wine as requested. Business class lounge at Dhaka poor. Dirty chairs but better than Economy Class area. Only coffee free and alcohol in nearby bar very expensive. DAC to stop over in Dubai, old DC10,food poor and business class invaded by air crew going on holiday. Dubai OK for Duty Free. Dubai to LHR Food very good and drinks as above. All in all good value for the money. Choose your flight dates carefully to get best connection times. I understand 11 NEW A330 aircraft have been ordered.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Arafat Mahbub

5 July 2006

Riyadh to Dhaka and back - my second time. After the many delays and poor service at the counter (one advantage being that if your vacation is very short, you have it extended by the delays and you can blame it on the plane to dodge your superior's wrath!) I was in a queue for over 3 hours just to get through immigration! I finally boarded the plane which was parked way out on the tarmac and got there by the bus shuttle service. Was winter so I was spared the heat (this flight didn't have very good air-conditioning I think it was one of the older planes) but it can get quite stuffy. The cabin crew quite friendly and chatty. The seats had very little legroom even for my 5’6 frame. I had to push the neighboring passenger off my shoulder - thrice, well we really can't blame him the seats didn't recline and were cramped. Food was ok considering I’ve tasted worse. Toilet seats were bad and lets not forget the train of ants on the toilet wall; I saw tiny roaches crawling on a another flight! I received my luggage 2 days after I reached Dhaka. I had some clothes and personal amenities in my carry-all, so I survived - but most of the other people on my flight were not so lucky... If your traveling in winter and it's one of the newer planes, at night I suggest you keep your outerwear as it can get quite chilly (provided there is air conditioning) , and blankets are in short supply. On one of my flights most people had turned in their jackets which were kept in a compartment behind the projector screen, there weren't enough blankets to go around and so many people shivered, mercifully children were given priority, as for myself I had my jacket on - a cabin crew member suggested holding on to it - thanks to her. Well it's a very small fleet and so I guess not too much in the way of funds. As to whether I'll ever fly it again I don't know, but in the mean time I'll put it on my list of airlines I'd fly only out of dire necessity.

Biman Bangladesh review - by L Fiddy

18 May 2006

I guess I can only echo the complaints below and be thankful that I made it back to London in one piece. Journey to Bangkok uncomfortable and delayed for only 10 hours - (I understand now that this really is a walk in the park when flying with Biman). Return journey was not so smooth - after spending two days trying to reconfirm my already paid for tickets and finally giving up I was allowed to fly from Bangkok to Dakar. Bad mistake - why didn't they leave me in Bangkok where you can organise things normally - alas my path had been chosen - I was to land in Dakar and get told that I am not allowed to leave - great - its not like I have a job to go to and I could think of nothing better to do than spend the rest of my days rotting away in possibly the worst airport in the known world. 9 hours of hard negotiation, a call to the British Embassy, and some serious negotiation with the London office meant that I was able to board the flight 9 hours later with only 20mins to spare. If this had not happened I would have been trapped in Dakar for between 3-5 days. I am not a religious man but I must admit I was praying with everyone else at takeoff when I saw the decor and found a piece of the plane (not sure which) under the seat in front of me - I carefully replaced this and tried to forget that I ever saw it - an unscheduled stop in Dubai (clearly to drop off all the passengers that they had over booked onto all the already paid for tickets) meant the flight from Dakar to London took 17 hours - match this with a non-reclining seat - air stewards smoking on a non-smoking flight and distinct uncertainty if we were going to make it, made for an experience I will never forget. Long live Biman since my return you have made me appreciate every minute of every day that I am still here.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Terry Dryden

10 February 2006

New Delhi to Dhaka: without doubt the worst airline I've ever flown. On a scale of 0-10 with 0 the worst and 10 the best, Biman rates -10. My check-in experience was horrendous. There was no order or organization and the process took over an hour - a good thing the flight was running a few hours late. I had to fight to keep people from cutting in line in front of me. The staff didn’t seem to know what they were doing and there didn’t seem to be enough staff. The excess baggage fee was highway robbery - I checked two bags and paid just over $125. And they don’t take credit cards. I was thankful that I had kept my Indian rupees so that I was able to pay the huge excess baggage fee. I can understand a shop in remote village not taking VISA but not an international airline. Their handling of cash would give an accountant a coronary. Make sure you keep good records of what you pay and who you give your cash to. I would have sworn that the antique looking Airbus 310 I flew Delhi to Dhaka was built back in the 19th century - never cleaned or maintained since. The unusual mechanical noises during taxi, take off, flight and landing were unnerving. The seats are small and tightly squished together - pity anyone taller than me (I'm 5'10"), I have no idea where they will put their legs. I was struggling to find someplace to put mine - heaven forbid if the passenger in front of you decides to recline back into your lap and face. I doubt I could have read a book on the flight. There wasn't room for one! Plus the pages would have burst into flames due to the extremely hot temperature inside the cabin (I had a thermometer with me), it was over 91 Fahrenheit (33 Celsius), and there was no air circulation which made it seem even hotter. If you don't have any natural padding don't expect to find any in the seats. And pray you don't have to use the restrooms during the flight. Many have over the years and most seem to have missed their target. After landing I really expected to look back (as if I could really see though the filthy dirty windows) and see wing parts, debris, one of the engines and all our luggage spread out behind the aircraft as we taxied roughly off the runway. After arriving in Dhaka only two and a half hours late I hoped my return flight would be better. But after reading the negative comments on this web forum I didn’t have much hope for a better flight back to Delhi. I just hoped I would survive! And a recent article in the local paper about Biman flights experiencing 50 hour delays in New York and multi day delays in Europe didn’t encourage me any. If anyone ever suggests that you fly on Biman, walk instead. If you arrive at your destination you will be required to reconfirm your return flight at least 72 hours before your flight or your confirmed ticket will be canceled. That may be good or bad depending upon your perspective. Reconfirmation is another huge hassle with Biman. It took me six tries; once by phone as stated on their web site, and twice at their office in Chittagong and I tried again without success at a travel agency. The lines at the Biman office were long and not moving, maybe they had staff working the counters and maybe not, it was hard to tell looking through the multitudes of people waiting in the dark room. I ran out of time during both attempts at the Biman Chittagong office and had to leave. When I got to the Chittagong airport I went to the Biman ticket counter and they couldn't reconfirm my ticket there. Finally a local friend spent several hours getting my return ticket reconfirmed for me in Dhakha. I don't see the logic of having to reconfirm already bought and paid for confirmed tickets. My return flight went better than my first one did. My experience at the check out counter went well. I thought it was interesting that my excess baggage fee was less than half what I paid on my first flight considering that I had a few more kilograms on this flight. The flight left on time and arrived on time in Delhi. I had some friends who flew from Mumbai to Dhaka the other day and their flight was fourteen hours late. The aircraft was an old DC-10 and this flight was not stuffed full. In fact I had an open seat next to me which gave my legs someplace to spread out to. The food was not as tasty as the first flight but so far I’ve not gotten sick. The cabin temperature was comfortable only during take off and landing. During flight the air temp was around 85 Fahrenheit (30 Celsius) without any air circulation, still way too hot for my taste. I didn’t brave the restroom on this flight. I don’t plan to fly with Biman again. The hot cabin temp, very tight seating space, excessive excess baggage fees and the reconfirmation hassles are enough to keep me off their planes in the future. Seriously, fly on another airline when you visit Bangladesh. The few dollars saved with Biman Bangladesh Airlines are not worth it.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Iain Maciver

19 December 2005

I never thought an airline could be this pathetic. Missed my Emirates connection from Dubai to Dhaka and put onto the Biman flight. Unreal! Lavatory doors broken - in the open position, total seat fixed in place by many coats of paint, last owner was spanish as all the signs etc were in that language (as though the Bangladesh passengers understood it) , excrement on the floor, no air movement inside the cabin, told to pull shades down to keep heat out. No food, no drink, no nothing for the entire flight. It was a sweat box by the time it landed. Surely ICAO should ground this outfit!!! Avoid this airline, your life may depend on it!

Biman Bangladesh review - by Thierry de Borchgrave

10 December 2005

We tried to get to Bangkok with Biman Bangladesh, starting from Paris Orly. We should have left from Paris on Sunday, but the flight to Dhaka was cancelled. No announcement, no information, nothing. We managed to find a Biman representative who told us the flight would leave Monday morning. We could stay at a hotel close to the airport terminal, paid by Biman. We (and some more people that slept on the airport floor, because they did not find the well hidden Biman representative) left on Monday, but not straight to Dhaka. First to Rome to pick up some other passengers that got stuck there. Finally we took off to Dhaka and landed there in the middle of the night. Tickets and passports were taken and we could stay in a dirty hotel until the morning because the flight to Bangkok was leaving on Monday morning. The bus to the airport never picked us up. No flights to Bangkok on Monday ! You will fly tomorrow morning, we were told with a great smile. Finally we arrived in Bangkok Tuesday instead of Sunday. Return flight to Brussels via Dubai was okay, only three hours delay - first time and last time ever with Biman Bangladesh.

Biman Bangladesh review - by Jimmy Yu

1 November 2005

Before takeoff, the normal checks on passengers' safety belt was not carried out. There was a door latch that was unserviceable in the pantry. Before takeoff, the cabin crew placed boxes in front of this door in the attempt to prevent it from flipping open. The exterior of the airplane was very dirty. The interior décor of the cabin is poor. The seat covers, which have floral designs, are old and tattered. A making tape was found pasted on one of the in-flight screen monitor. This monitor was suspected to have cracked at its edge. There was also a foul smell of lavatory in the cabin throughout the flight. Despite sound system being built in the seats, earphones were never distributed to the passengers. No movie were screened during the flight. Other that the in- flight magazine, ‘Digonto’, no other reading materials were available in the cabin. Orange juice was served before the flight. After airborne, dinner which consists of only one meat puff and two springs rolls were served immediately. This meal was accompanied by hot beverage and plain water. The female cabin crew wears traditional ‘sari’ that gives the passenger an exotic South Asian feel. Only basic and essential service, like food distribution, was rendered to the passengers and nothing more. The cabin crew never smiled throughout. The standard of Biman cannot be comparable on the world stage -services are tolerable for very short haul flights but not suited for passengers intending to travel international beyond 5 hours of flight.

Biman Bangladesh - by Mehtab Rahman

15 August 2005

DAC-CGP Business Class. Flight delayed by two hours. The smell of aircraft fuel lingered onboard throughout the flight. The business class, with its infamous floral seat covers, in tatters. The seat configuration 2-3-2 on an airbus A310. Seat pitch poor (tighter than any other J class I have flown - pitch similar to WT+ on BA). Inflight service is minimal; pax offered water, sweets, pan masala and Biman's trademark 'Mango Bar' (which is quite good). Overall, an ok flight - nothing to write home about. Biman should consider revamping their aircrafts - they are horrible. I don't believe Biman will be purchasing a new fleet of B777s and A330/340's anytime soon, so better not keep hopes high. A poor airline, Biman should get its act together as quickly as possible.

Biman Bangladesh - by Jamal Ullah

9 August 2005

London-Dhaka-Sylhet. We were a group of 17 and booked 4 months in advance. After check-in we were hurried to board the plane, and was one of the last to board. Upon entering the plane I was disappointed with the interior, flowery seat covers and it looked like something from the seventies. This was the Airbus A300, the National Express coaches in England look a lot smarter! There was a lot of confusion with seating and my family was split up, they wanted my 4yr old daughter and my 3yr old son to sit some distance away from us, the crew constantly saying let us take off then you can swap seats with anyone. In the end a compromise was found with another family. The flight was ok and surprisingly on time. Entertainment was nothing at all, food not bad, all I can say is they should improve the look of the planes interiors and modernise things or they are going to lose a lot of business to other carriers. The only reason a lot of people use Biman is because of convenience of landing in Sylhet airport (Biman does not allow any other international flight to land in Sylhet, yet 90% of Biman passengers are Sylhetis)

Biman Bangladesh - by Asif Ahmed

6 September 2004

London to Dhaka return. Was given a complementary/promotional local return ticket either from Dhaka/Chittagong or Dhaka/Sylhet, which unfortunately I did not get time to utilise. Arrived early at Heathrow so check-in was a breeze, staff still fresh and frendly! Cabin was ok. Though had to change seats so that a family could be seated together, not a problem for me as I was travelling alone. Biman always seem to seat families far apart - even though they are supposed to give families priority seating arrangement. Food was good, cabin crew were polite, but seemed quite rude with some of the passengers. WC, as always, was barely usable, after a couple of hours. In-flight entertainment poor. Some confusion at check-in/customs at Dhaka. Usual 'offer' to retrieve baggage by customs officials - I politely refused, though did not have to wait long for luggage. Problems seem to occur when several international flights land at the same time at Dhaka (as had occurred at an earlier travel there). Return journey, was one of the best - very polite crew. Although check-in was chaotic - mostly due to some passengers not having correct documentations and still insisting on getting on to the aircraft! Transit stop-over in Dubai was ok - delay taking off as some transit passengers went walk-a-bouts and were late re-boarding. Overall, I could see that the experience for a lot of my fellow passengers can be very fraught, for me personally Biman provides more convinience when traveling to Dhaka, which I do frequently.

Biman Bangladesh - by O Rahim

18 August 2004

Delhi-Dhaka. Forced to take Biman as no other flights. Paid top fare as no discounts - in fact same fare as London-Delhi! Crew were awful. They ignored requests for blankets for the infant, ordered passengers around and were very unhelpful with the pram. The screen did not work (on both ways) and so could not see any of the security demonstrations but it did not bother them. They made us sweat in the plane for absolutely ages before we had any aircon. The food was very poor quality and the drinks choice was lemonade, cola or water - that's it! Filthy plane with ripped fittings. The crew did not check seat belts or close any trays and were no help at all with the infant belt. There seem to be many ranks of crew who ordered the lower ranks around! Many seats are taken up by free passengers who work for the airline or government. Use this airline at your peril!

Biman Bangladesh - by Matthew Taylor

18 May 2004

I can echo a lot of the comments already made about Biman. Our flight was delayed with no information being made available to passengers. We made stops en route that where not scheduled (at least not that WE were aware of). Due to delays we missed our connecting flight and spent Christmas day in a run down hostel with our tickets and passports taken away from us. On returning to the airport the following day, we were told that our passports and tickets had been sent to the hostel - who decided not to tell us! We got them back with 5 minutes to spare! The staff are rude. Planes are falling apart (one member of our party complained that his seat would not stay upright and kept reclining - solution : "Well don't lean back then!". There was a strong smell of kerosene and the fascia on the emergency exit kept coming away from the door.

Biman Bangladesh - by N Hussain

28 March 2004

I recently flew Biman Bangladesh Airlines from Bombay to Dhaka on J Class. The flight in to Mumbai from Dubai was over 2 hours late. Biman did not bother informing the passengers and repeated phone calls to Biman's Mumbai airport office went unanswered. Check-in was a nightmare without any dedicated counter for J class passengers. Once on board, the cabin was extremely dirty and the toilet in the front of the plane was simply filthy. The food was sub-par for J class. Most of the passengers in the J Class cabin seemed to be Biman staff. No apologies for the delay either. Very disappointed with the service which seems to be on a downward spiral as of late.

Biman Bangladesh - by Rebeka Boolaky

15 March 2004

We recently flew by Biman Bangladesh with our 4 year old son and 6 month old baby - all I can say that it was an absolute nightmare from start to finish. We had requested a cot, which we did not get. Met by rude, unhelpful cabin crew and were in a filthy plane - on the return trip we were told that we were not on our flight because we had to re-confirm ? We are professional people with jobs to come back to, not idle people who can stay for a few extra days/weeks! In Dhaka the staff were even more rude, and to make things worse thay tried to make my 4 year old son sit on his own away from us - this I am sure is illegal, and caused us a huge amount of stress !

Biman Bangladesh - by Basit Ahmed

9 March 2004

I have flown Biman on the London-Dubai route many times. My belief is that service provided by Biman 20 or even 10 years ago was far superior to the service currently on offer. The reasons for this is that the DC-10s in use were younger at that time - cleaner and smoother. The main problems with Biman are that it has failed to modernise it's old fleet (root of all delays), failed to introduce modern in-flight entertainment (seatback videos), failed to address unprofessional hostesses, failed to deal with it's corrupt booking officials and above all failed to appreciate the loyal customers which have kept it flying. I fly to Bangladesh regularly and since 1997 have been using Emirates which is truly a world class airline.

Biman Bangladesh - by Sonya Mercado

25 January 2004

Flew BG from Dhaka to Calcutta. The 737 (new to BG) was a filthy mess -  all kinds of substances could be found on the seat pockets in J class. Legroom in J class which has a 3x3 seating was horrible. Food comprises of a box rudely thrown out at you. Dhaka airport is a nightmare and the airline hostesses just do not care.