Biman Bangladesh Airlines

Flew to DAC-LHR-DAC route. The value for money was quite reasonable. Inflight entertainment wasn't very good. The staff were inattentive to the customers. The food was quite good. All flights were on time. Will fly with the airline again if their quality improves.

Kuala Lumpur - Dhaka - Kathmandu return. All flights were on time. Most the flights were old except KUK - Dhaka (B77-300ER). As a 2 star airline I cannot complaint. Food was good in terms of portion size but there was not many choices of food. Cabin crews not attentive to passengers. Will fly with them again if I manage to get a cheaper price.

Flew from Heathrow to Dhaka on 6th July 2014. Checking-in at Heathrow Terminal 4 was an unusual experience for me. Although checking-in was relatively quick but the chaos/arguments amongst the passengers and ushering staff didn't go unnoticed. No niceties. This chaos and disorganisation continued during the boarding. Take off delayed but that was of no fault of the airline. Aircraft Boeing 777-/300 ER was fine. In-flight food was simple usual Asian curry and rice and not much to say about that. Cabin crews didn't seem very happy. They portrayed the image of doing a job rather than serving customers with a smile. Full of used toilet tissues on the toilet floor and on one occasion I found no toilet paper at all. Landed at Sylhet International Airport. The airport is a joke for international standards. Passengers for Sylhet got off and few cleaners boarded and followed by few domestic and international passengers bound for Dhaka. Biman then took off for Dhaka (a 20 minutes flight). The captain didn't even bother to announce anything! Confusion again after landing at Dhaka airport. Which passengers will use which door! No organisation no clear instructions no communications between crews. They just stood by the door arms folded. Returned to London Heathrow on 13th August in business class wasn't that bad. This time the cabin crew were more welcoming. Take off was delayed 45 minutes and landed at Heathrow at 4.05 instead of 3.30.

We have just returned from a 2 week trip to Dhaka. 5th April LHR-DAC delayed 3 hours. When a crew was finally aboard the lack of discipline amongst the passengers scrambling to get on as if it was going to depart without them delayed the fight still further. On this flight the cabin crew were fairly miserable but not as bad as some we have seen. The cabin lights which are normally dimmed for take off were not switched on again for more than half an hour into the flight. IFE was not switched on until around 1 hour into the flight - why I cannot understand. Of course the scheduled turnaround in ZYL for onward to DAC was a joke in terms of timing as around 400 people trooped slowly off with their children and around another 300 trooped in for onward connections. Arrived in DAC about 4 hours overdue. Return flight direct DAC-LHR started with a drama. Arrived DAC to check in and were met by a check-in desk operator who seemed puzzled and asked us to wait as there was a problem. After 15-20 minutes of 3-4 check in desk staff discussing this animatedly over a console we were approached by a more senior check in operator who bluntly told us "You are not on this flight". Eventually a younger member of the group pointed out to them that we were not stand-by passengers and that we had a confirmed booking. However by this time someone had reallocated our seats. Eventually we received boarding passes. Flight was on time and had a newly recruited crew who were helpful smiled and even chatted. This flight DAC-LHR had a 12 year old allocated to the exit row 6 on one side of the cabin and a 6 year old and an elderly overweight lady in the equivalent row on the other side - more chaos for the cabin crew to sort out after boarding. If this airline wants to survive it needs to drag itself into the 21st century and stop running a Cattle Class service with updated training in customer services and a bit of humanity - especially the ground crews.

LHR-ZYL. ZYL-DAC-LHR. Flying with Biman for the first time was a great experience. Outbound flight LHR-ZYL departed 10 mins early. Aircraft was Biman's 3rd new Boeing 777 300ER (S2 AHM / Akash Prodeep) which was only 1 month old and was completely fresh inside out. Colour of the seats was a bit dreary but was comfortable with plenty of legroom. Staff were nice and friendly but a some of them need to smile a bit more. Food was excellent. Inbound flight from ZYL to DAC was delayed by 2 hours. Plane was in good nick which was Bimans first B777 (Palki). DAC-LHR was Bimans 2nd Boeing (Arun Alo) which was also pretty much clean until a few hours in to the flight were the toilets became a mess. I would definitely fly with Biman again when I travel to Bangladesh as it only takes 9.5 hours rather than 15 hrs should I have used another airline which requires changing aircraft's.

05/01/2014 BG108 DAC to ZYL. Business class flight departed on time food was good but could be improved. Will be traveling with Biman again.

Dhaka - Kathmandu - Dhaka. This was the only airline going directly from Dhaka to Kathmandu. Outbound was on time but the plane was an old Fokker which should have been scrapped years ago. There was no electricity in the kitchen and we were server a cold "vegetarian burger". Going back a few days later the plane was delayed for 6 hours for no reason. Once we landed in Dhaka it was 3 am instead of 6 hours earlier at 9 pm. No explanation no excuse no suggestion of free of charge airport shuttle was given. Nothing. One of the worst flight experiences.

Flew from Dhaka to London in October with new Boeing 777 on business class. To be honest wasn't that bad but they do need to look after their Business class passengers a bit more. Plane was new and entertainment was alright most movies are outdated by least by 6+ months. Foods were okay just to fill you up I found Qatar Economy food even better then Biman Business class. A lot of leg room only thing I hated was when the announcement was made for economy class not to do this and that it was broadcast throughout the plane. Overall I will fly again.

DAC-DXB August 18th. Shockingly expensive for quite poor product. Biman Business Class is without a doubt the most affordable upgrade all over the world (USD 400 for one way ) however you get what you pay and it's evident that such a service is less than EK economy class which was USD 60 cheaper: poor old and tired lounge at Dhaka airport not less old and tired Airbus A310 as an equipment (which was continuing to Rome afterwards). No IFE on board cheesy breakfast served (burnt fried egg cold kangee strange chicken sausage and sautéed mushroom tasting like sponge) and no espresso coffee available. Rude and unprofessional Bengali cabin crew. Definitely fly Emirates on DAC-DXB route.

Due to no seats being available with Singapore Airlines I unfortunately had to fly from Singapore to Dhaka with Biman and so I at least booked Business Class. Flight delayed almost 4 hours without explanation and very little communication from ground crew. Flight crew were reasonably attentive but they really do need to learn to smile. The food was OK but certainly not Business Class standards and they had a very limited selection of drinks and on-board entertainment (not everyone wants to watch Bollywood movies and the screens were too small). The A310 aircraft was reasonably clean but really starting to show it's age. The toilets were a mess by the end of the flight even though it was less than 5 hours duration. Really the only good point was the price i.e. Business Class ticket was half the price of an Economy ticket with Singapore Airlines. I certainly won't be flying Biman again unless I have no other choice.