DHAKA, May 25: Bangladesh is bleeding white to pay for the passengers travelling abroad in foreign exchange because foreign airlines are beating the national carrier Bangladesh Biman hollow and walking off with $1 billion annually.

The situation was different in 1991 when foreign airlines were carrying fewer number of passengers than Biman and were managing to remit only about $300 million annually. Inept policies being pursued by the Civil Aviation Ministry has put the country in this predicament.

Industry sources estimate annual passenger growth in absolute terms by about 135,000. Out of this Biman is being able to carry only about 35,000 annually while the rest 100,000 additional passengers are going to the foreign airlines. This higher proportion of local passengers being carried by the foreign airlines would also mean outflow of another estimated about $100 million annually. By the year 2005, the outflow of foreign exchange in this area alone would amount to $1.5 billion.

In 1991 Bangladesh Biman, the national flag carrier carried over 634,000 international passengers compared to only 477,000 by all foreign carriers put together. This situation reversed in 2000 when Biman could carry only 964,000 passengers as against the foreign airlines’ 1,328,000.

During this one decade, Biman was able to increase the number of passengers by 1.52 times while the foreign airlines registered a growth of 2.78 times. Foreign carriers also carried over 64 million kilos of cargo during FY2001, much higher than that of Biman.

Industry sources say mismanagement and inefficiency of Biman officials, indiscriminate granting of fifth freedom rights and frequent extension of bilateral frequencies by the Civil Aviation Ministry to foreign airlines without trying to increase Biman’s traffic are the causes of this growing imbalance in this field.

Informed aviation sources say the Biman has proved itself incapable of competing with the foreign airlines operating in Dhaka. The decision to privatize Biman has now been shelved as no airline of repute has cared to respond to the tender floated by the government. Now the only way this rot could be stemmed is to allow one or two private airlines that are currently operating in the country.

If they are capable of operating in these competitive routes where Biman is falling behind, the government should grant them permission to do so at least in some of these routes. The decision to privatize Biman has now been shelved because ostensibly no airline of repute has cared to respond to the tender floated by the government.

One of the private airlines, GMG Airline, now operating in some of the major domestic routes.