Govt to buy 14 Boeing aircraft from US
Bangladesh is buying 14 Boeing aircraft from the United States and is also planning to lease additional aircraft as part of efforts to modernise and strengthen the country’s aviation sector, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat said on Monday.
“US had requested that Bangladesh use Boeing aircraft and the government is acting accordingly,” he told reporters while responding to a question about the government’s reported plan to purchase Boeing aircraft from the United States.
The minister was speaking after attending a law-and-order and development coordination meeting as the chief guest at the conference room of the Mymensingh deputy commissioner in the afternoon.
His remarks came after US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said Bangladesh had committed billions of dollars to purchase additional Boeing aircraft from the United States under a new deal between Dhaka and Washington.
In a post on social media X, Gor said US President Donald Trump and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh had reached “another incredible Deal”, under which Bangladesh would spend billions of dollars on additional Boeing aircraft, significantly increasing its initial order.
Bangladesh had already signed a deal with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing in April to purchase 14 aircraft for its national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The order, valued at $3.7 billion, is the airline’s biggest-ever aircraft purchase.
The latest comments from the minister indicate that the government is also considering leasing additional aircraft alongside the purchase programme.
At the same time, Millat said Bangladesh would procure new aircraft from Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer jointly owned by companies from France, Germany and Spain, as part of a broader plan to modernise the country’s aviation sector.
He said the government was working to strengthen the national aviation industry and improve the capacity of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
The minister also spoke about the country’s ongoing power and gas shortages, describing the situation as a “mess” inherited from the previous government.
He said the government was working round the clock to address the problems but warned that a sustainable solution would take time.
“Gas and electricity during Sheikh Hasina’s time have left us in trouble. But we are carrying this trouble; we did not create it,” he said.
Responding to criticism over power and gas shortages, Millat said some opposition lawmakers and representatives of Jamaat-e-Islami were staging movements demanding the government’s resignation over the shortages.
“But if you ask us to step down, can you provide electricity tomorrow? Can you provide electricity or gas within six months? You cannot,” he said.
He said resolving the crisis and developing new infrastructure would require time.
“Even after laying the foundation stone of a building, it takes at least two years to complete it.
Even if we work rapidly using new technologies, it will still take one-and-a-half to two years,” he said.
“We are working day and night toward that goal,” he added.
Millat also urged law-enforcement agencies and administrative officials to take firm action against those seeking to create social and administrative instability.
“We must not create disorder at every turn.
Those who want to create social and administrative instability must be dealt with firmly,” he said, instructing officials to enforce existing laws properly.
“Our only goal is to ensure that people live in peace and get a better Bangladesh,” he said.
Senior local administration officials, lawmakers, representatives of law-enforcement agencies and officials from different government departments attended the meeting.
