Biman Bangladesh Airlines national flag carrier. It was established as a corporate body called Bangladesh Biman Corporation under the Bangladesh Biman Ordinance (Presidential Order No. 126) of 4 January 1972. Initially it started with a Second World War vintage Dakota, DC-3, a gift from the airforce. Biman's domestic services with the DC-3 commenced within a month after its inception. Soon after commencement, the aircraft crashed on a test flight. Biman then procured two used F-27 aircraft, which were soon flying to chittagong and sylhet. The international flights began on 4 March 1972, with an aircraft chartered from British Caledonian. Biman today flies to 26 major international destinations and at home, it has a seven-destination network. The overseas places connected by Biman include Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Bangkok, Brussels Calcutta, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Mumbai, Muscat, New York, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, Singapore, Tokyo and Yangon. The domestic airports serviced by Bangladesh Biman are at dhaka, Chittagong, rajshahi, Sylhet, cox's bazar, jessore, and saidpur.

Biman's fleet now consists of five wide-body DC 10-30s, three wide-body Airbus A-31s, three F-28 executive jets, and two ATPs. Two more wide-body aircrafts, one DC 10-30, and an airbus are to be inducted into the Biman fleet soon. In fiscal year 1999-2000, Biman carried 128,568 passengers and 36,272 tons of payload cargo. Most of Biman's destinations are served with either direct or single stop service. Convenient transfer connections from Dhaka to regional destinations like Calcutta, Kathmandu and Yangon are easily available. Biman is well-known for its trained and dedicated cabin crew and its safety record.

Biman has its own ancillary and maintenance facilities including the Biman flight catering centre, Biman engineering hanger, Bangladesh Airline Training Centre, and the Biman Poultry Complex. The airline reservation system, departure control, and other communications systems are fully computerised. Experienced ground handling units service Biman's own aircrafts as well as those of a number of Foreign Airlines at the International Airport at Dhaka. [Syed Mohd Saleh Uddin]