The Biman Bangladesh Airlines has sought issuance of an advance import permit (IP) worth Tk 11 billion with an eye to importing machinery for its transport aircraft.
Officials concerned say the national flag carrier has requested civil aviation and tourism ministry to take necessary steps to this effect.
Accordingly, the ministry has sought necessary action by commerce ministry to issue the advance IP in favour of the state-owned airline, they add.
The tenure of the IP has been proposed for one year, from 01 January 2022 to 31 December.
The funds will be used for importing engine, APU, nose cowl, landing gear, fan cowl and other services like repair and overhaul.
Besides, goods for different in-flight services will also be collected.
"We've received a letter from civil aviation and tourism ministry to issue an IP. We're now working on the matter," discloses a commerce ministry official.
Earlier, the office of the chief controller of imports and exports (CCIE) issued an IP worth Tk 1.0 billion. The tenure of the funds will end this December 31.
On 20 August 2020, the office issued another Tk 10-billion IP with six months' tenure.
However, only Tk 2.99 billion could be used during the year-round Covid-19 pandemic globally.
Later, the CCIE increased the time frame to 31 December 2021 in line with a plea from the Biman authorities.
The funds have been used scantily having no normal Biman flight operations in the wake of an unusual Covid-19 situation, according to the letter.
As the virus is now seen mostly contained across the world, machinery needs to be imported for the smooth operation of the state aviation company, it writes.
It is time-consuming to renew or increase the tenure of the two previous IPs, according to a Biman source.
"For this," the source says, "we have requested to issue a new IP involving Tk 11 billion combining the previous two IPs."
A civil aviation ministry official says, "We've written to commerce ministry to take necessary steps to issue a fresh IP in favour of Biman Bangladesh Airlines."
