Biman Bangladesh Airlines

Heathrow - Sylhet. Departure delayed an hour passengers created chaos as they fail to listen to instructions given by cabin crew. Cabin crew themselves need to smile more especially the female cabin crew. Overall the new B777 is comfortable and entertainment is decent. Food is served twice but the quality could be improved found the food to be quite bland. Sylhet airport itself is a joke that itself is a different topic altogether. Overall for the price I paid I am fairly happy with the service.

Jan 2013. Heathrow - Sylhet return. Departure delayed 4hrs on flight out to BD. New 777 pleasant enough toilets kept clean and food served twice. Cabin crew very attentive. Return flight Sylhet - Dhaka delayed by over 3hrs (got asked to be at airport for 4.30am. Flight left at 10.30am). Delay due to "fog". Dhaka - Heathrow. Plane pleasant enough food edible. Not enough entertainment. No cartoons for children and very un-accommodating cabin crew. I flew with a 4yr old and 13month old and no baby cot was provided although specifically requested at check-in desk. Will not choose Biman in future. Although baggage allowance and direct flight is appealing the overall delays and service make me think I'm better off with an Emirates or Etihad next time.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 DC10food 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.

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.